THE  LIBRARY  OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY  OF 

NORTH  CAROLINA 


THE  COLLECTION  OF 

NORTH  CAROLINLySTA 

ENDOWED  BY 

JOHN  SPRUNT  HILL 

CLASS  OF  1889 


CB 
Rl63t5 


UNIVERSITY  OF  N.C.  AT  CHAPEL  HILL 


00032703352 

This  book  must  not 
be  taken  from  the 
Library  building. 


Form  No.  471 


THE; 


LIFE  AND  TIMES 


OK 


Sir  Walter  Raleigh, 

PIONEER  OF 
ANGLO-AMERICAN  COLONIZATION. 


CHARLES  K.  TRUE,  D.  D., 

AUTHOR  OF  "  ELEMENTS  OF  LOGIC,"  "  LIFE  OF  JOHN  WINTHROP,"  ETC. 


t 


CINCINNATI :  CURTvS  &  JENNINGS. 
NEW  YORK  :  EATON  &  MAINS. 


Entered,  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1877,  by 

HITCHCOCK  &  WALDEN. 
In  the  Office  of  the  Librarian  of  Congress,  at  Washington 


PREFACE, 


This  book  is  composed  to  find  a  place  in 
Sunday-school  libraries,  to  keep  in  memory 
the  heroic  men  who  have  contributed  to  lay 
the  foundations  of  Anglo-Saxon  civilization 
on  this  Continent,  in  the  hope  that  it  may 
alternate  with,  if  not  substitute,  some  of  the 
fictitious  tales  that  make  up  so  much  of  the 
reading  of  our  young  people.  It  is  based 
upon  the  most  recent  and  reliable  biographies 
of  Raleigh  and  the  histories  of  his  times.  I 
take  pleasure  in  acknowledging  my  indebted- 
ness to  the  biographies  of  Raleigh  by  Edward 
Edwards  and  by  Mrs.  M.  A.  Thompson,  En- 
glish writers,  and  to  J.  C.  Ridpath's  **  History 

of  the  United  States." 

C.  K.  T. 
Flushing,  L.  I.,  N,  Y.,  1877. 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  I. 

PAGE. 

Birth  and  Education, 9. 

CHAPTER  II. 

Raleigh   enlists    in  the   Civil   Wars  of  France — The 

Huguenots.  •         .         .         ,         .         .         •      '5 

CHAPTER  III. 

Discovery   and    Colonization    of   America — Raleigh's 

First  Adventures,         ......     21 

CHAPTER  IV. 
Civil  Wars  in  Ireland, 03 

CHAPTER  V.  • 

Raleigh  at    the   Court  of   Elizabeth  —  Essex  —  Lady 

Arabella  Stuart — Sir  Philip  Sidney — Spenser,     .     40 

CHAPTER  VI. 

Raleigh  attempts  to  colonize  Virginia,         .  .         •     54 


6  Contents. 

PACK. 

CHAPTER  VII. 
Raleigh's   Relation   to  Ireland — Potatoes  introduced 
into  Ireland — War   with  Spain — The   Armada — 
Reprisals,     . 64 

CHAPTER  VIII. 

Visit  to  Spenser — Panama  Scheme — Favors  Tolera- 
tion—Udall— The  Brownists — The  Jesuits— Ra- 
leigh's Marriage — Disgrace  at  Court  and  Impris- 
onment,      ........     72 

CHAPTER  IX. 
Expeditions  to  Guiana,      .         .         .         ,         .         .85 

CHAPTER  X. 

Naval  Expedition  against  Cadiz — ^The  Island's  Enter- 
prise— Breach  with  Essex,   ...         .         .     99 

CHAPTER  XI. 

Raleigh  and  his  Compeers  at  Court — Revolt  and  Ex- 
ecution of  Essex,  .         ,        .         .         .         .110 

^CHAPTER  XII. 

Raleigh  Governor  of  Jersey — His  Domestic    Life — 

Member  of  Parliament — His  Literary  Associates,   119 

CHAPTER  XIII. 

Death  of  Elizabeth — Accession  of  James — His  Char- 
acter and  Works — Raleigh's  Disgrace  at  Court — 


Contents. 


Charged  with  Conspiracy — Impiisonment  in  the 
Tower, X28 

CHAPTER  XIV. 

The  Trial  of  Raleigh  and  the  Conspirators — Conduct 
of  Sir  Edward  Coke — The  Sentence  of  the  Pris- 
oners.   


154 


CHAPTER  XV. 


Execution  of  the  Prisoners  Watson,  Clarke,  and 
Brooke — ^The  King's  Maneuvers  in  regard  to  the 
Fate  of  Raleigh,  Cobham,  Grey,  and  Markham,   184 

CHAPTER  XVI. 

Death  of  Cecil  and  Prince  Henry — Raleigh  released 
from  the  Tower — Projects  Another  Expedition  to 
Guiana, 196 

CHAPTER  XVII. 
The  Guiana  Expedition, 206 

CHAPTER  XVIII. 

Arrested  on  his  Journey  to  London — Expedients  to 
escape — Committed  to  the  Tower — Fruitless  Ef- 
forts of  Queen  Anne  in  his  Behalf — Brought 
before  the  Court  of  the  King's  Bench — Former 
Sentence  renewed  against  him — His  Execution 
and  Burial,  , 234 


Illustrations. 


Young  Essex  brought  to  Queen  Elizabeth, 

Frontispiece. 

Queen  Elizabeth  giving  a  Ring  to  Essex,        .         ii6 


SIR  WALTER  RALEIGH. 


LIFE 


OF 


Sir  Walter  Raleigh, 

^Conter  of  anfilo-^mcruan  Colonijati'on. 


dljkptef  I. 

BIRTH  AND  EDUCATION. 

QIR  WALTER  RALEIGH  was  born  A.  D. 
*^  1552,  at  the  Manor  Hayes,  in  the  parish  of 
East  Badleigh,  on  the  eastern  coast  of  Devon- 
shire, a  county  distinguished  as  the  birthplace  of 
two  other  great  navigators,  Sir  Francis  Drake  and 
Sir  John  Hawkins.  It  was  in  the  reign  of  the 
young  king,  Edward  VI,  son  of  Henry  VIII  and 
Jane  Seymour,  whose  death  at  the  age  of  fifteen 
gave  the  throne  to  Mary,  the  Cathohc,  daughter 
of  Henry  VIII  and  Catherine.  His  parents  were 
Protestants,    as   we  know  by  the  following  anec- 


lo  Sir  Walter  Raleigh. 

dotes,  well  worth  noting,  as  revealing  the  charac- 
ter of  the  times : 

A  few  years  before  Walter  was  born  a  revolt 
against  the  government  of  the  papists,  called  the 
"Rising  of  the  West,"  took  place.  It  commenced 
on  Whitsunday,  1549,  at  the  Church  of  Sampford 
Courtenay,  about  twenty  miles  from  Hayes,  and 
spread  all  over  Devon  and  Cornwall.  While  rid- 
ing toward  Exeter,  Walter  Raleigh,  Senior,  over- 
took an  old  woman  going  to  the  Church  of  Clyst 
St.  Mary.  He  amused  himself  by  asking  her, 
"What  is  the  good  of  your  beads?"  and  told  her 
of  the  new  laws  against  superstitious  practices. 
She  was  made  so  angry  by  his  banter  that,  when 
she  got  to  the  church,  she  rushed  in  and  cried 
out,  "Unless  they  would  quit  their  beads  and 
holy  water,  the  gentlemen  would  burn  their  houses 
over  their  heads!"  The  Congregation  thereupon 
swarmed  out  of  the  church  "like  a  sort  of 
wasps;"  and  a  party  of  them  overtook  Raleigh, 
and  obliged  him  to  flee  into  a  chapel  on  the  road- 
side, where  he  was  protected  for  the  time;  but 
farther  on  he  was  overhauled  and  captured  by  a 


Pioneer  of  American  Colonization.       ii 

party  of  rioters,  and  imprisoned  in  the  tower  of  a 
church  at  Saint  Sidwell's,  in  the  suburbs  of  Exeter. 
The  rebels  besieged  Exeter ;  but,  in  a  bloody  battle 
at  Clyst  Heath,  Lord  Grey  defeated  them  with 
great  slaughter.  In  the  morning  after  the  battle 
Mr.  Raleigh  was  set  at  liberty  by  the  victors. 

In  the  next  reign  the  work  of  suppressing 
Protestantism  was  carried  on  with  vigor  by  Queen 
Mary,  and  many  good  people  were  martyred  for 
their  religion.  Among  them  was  one  uneducated 
but  strong-minded  and  pious  woman,  named 
Agnes  Prest,  whose  trial  so  excited  the  sympathies 
of  young  Walter's  mother  that  she  made  her  a 
visit  of  condolence  in  prison.  The  poor  woman 
revealed  the  special  cause  of  her  imprisonment 
while  repeating  to  Mrs.  Raleigh  her  creed;  for 
when  she  came  to  the  words,  ^^ He  ascended"  she 
stopped  and  remarked  upon  the  folly  of  looking 
for  the  body  of  Christ  in  any  earthly  temple ;  and 
declared  the  papal  usage  of  the  sacrament  was 
making  an  idol  of  the  wafer,  and  not  a  proper 
remembrance  of  Christ's  passion.  Mrs.  Raleigh 
was  surprised   at   her   intelligence,    and   said    to 


12  Sir  Walter  Raleigh. 

the  family  that  she  was  convinced  that  '*  God 
was  with  her."  "I  was  not  able  to  answer  her — 
I  who  could  read,  and  she  can  not!" 

We  know  nothing  more  of  the  mother  of 
Walter,  except  that  she  was  the  widow  of  Otho 
Gilbert,  a  man  of  wealth,  and  became  the  third 
wife  of  Mr.  Raleigh.  By  him  she  became  the 
mother  of  three  children,  Carew,  Walter,  and 
Margaret.  By  her  first  husband  she  had  three 
sons,  Humphrey,  John,  and  Adrian  Gilbert,  all  of 
whom  attained  distinction,  especially  the  eldest. 
We  shall  find  him,  in  the  course  of  our  narrative, 
the  Sir  Humphrey  Gilbert  exploring  the  ''North- 
west Passage.'' 

The  rustic  house  in  which  Walter  was  born 
still  remains,  with  various  alterations  and  addi- 
tions, amidst  rural  scenes  that  have  scarcely 
changed  since.  *'It  is  of  the  plainest  sort  of 
Tudor  architecture,  with  three  gables,  heavily 
mullioned  windows,  a  thatched  roof,  and  some- 
what picturesque  porch."  It  was  within  a  pleasant 
walk  of  the  coast,  which  made  him  conversant 
with  sailors  who  had  visited  all  parts  of  the  globe, 


Pioneer  of  American  Colonization.       13 

and  it  was  in  the  neighborhood  of  manufactories 
established  by  emigrants  from  Flanders;  and  on 
every  side  were  exhibitions  of  trade  and  enter- 
prise and  thrift,  the  early  types  of  that  marvelous 
industry  and  art  which  has  made  England  the 
foremost  nation  of  the  world. 

The  name  of  the  family  was  spelled  in  every 
possible  way — Rale,  Rawley,  Rawleigh,  Ralegh, 
and  Raleigh.  We  retain  the  latter  because  it  is 
so  spelled  in  our  American  geographies,  though 
Sir  Walter's  autographs  show  that  he  spelled  it 
Ralegh,  without  the  /.  It  is  curious  to  observe 
how  utterly  erratic  was  the  spelling  of  even 
learned  persons  of  those  days,  having  no  stand- 
ard, and  showing  no  reluctance  to  employ  double 
letters  for  single,  spelling  the  same  word  differ- 
ently in  the  same  paragraph,  and  all  such  vagaries. 

All  we  know  of  Walter's  early  education  is 
that  he  was  entered  as  a  commoner  at  Oxford 
University  in  Christ  Church  College,  and  also  in 
Oriel  College,  probably  for  the  chance  of  a  fellow- 
ship in  one  or  the  other  of  the  colleges.  He  was 
a  student  three  years,   and  was  distinguished  foi 


14  Sir  Walter  Raleigh. 

his  attainments  in  philosophy  and  oratory ;  but  he 
did  not  remain  long  enough  to  graduate. 

At  the  University  he  made  the  acquaintance 
of  Francis  Bacon,  who  formed  a  high  opinion 
of  his  talents.  Bacon  tells  this  story  of  him : 
''Whilst  Raleigh  was  a  scholar  at  Oxford,  there 
was  a  cowardly  fellow,  who  happened  to  be  a 
very  good  archer;  but,  having  been  grossly  in- 
sulted by  another,  he  bemoaned  himself  to  Raleigh, 
and  asked  his  advice  what  he  should  do  to  repair 
the  wrong  that  had  been  offered  him.  'Why, 
challenge  him,'  answered  Raleigh,  'to  a  match 
of  shooting !' "  Very  witty,  and  wise  too,  com- 
pared with  the  barbarous  fashion  of  dueling. 


Pioneer  of  American  Colonization.       15 


Cil\kj)tef  II. 

RALEIGH  ENLISTS  IN  THE  CIVIL  WARS  OF  FRANCE — THE 
HUGUENOTS. 

IN  the  Autumn  of  1569  he  leaves  college,  and 
engages  as  a  vohmteer  under  his  cousin, 
Henry  Champernoun,  to  fight  on  the  side  of  the 
Huguenots  against  the  King  of  France.  He  was 
probably  at  the  battle  of  Jarnac,  and  certainly  in 
that  of  Moncontour,  for  in  his  "History  of  the 
World"  he  extols  the  masterly  ability  of  Count 
Ludovic,  brother  of  the  Prince  of  Orange,  in  con- 
ducting the  retreat  of  the  Protestant  army  after 
being  defeated  in  battle,  thereby  saving  it  from 
utter  demoralization  and  destruction  :  ''of  which," 
he  records,  ''myself  was  an  eye-witness,  and  was 
one  of  those  that  had  come  to  thank  him  for  it." 
These  facts  connect  our  hero  with  a  portion 
of  history  that  will  never  cease  to  be  of  tragic 
interest. 


1 6  Sir  vValter  Raleigh. 

The  Protestants  of  France  were  named  Hugue- 
nots as  a  name  of  contempt.  It  is  derived  from 
a  compound  German  word  meaning  confederates. 
They  were  mostly  Calvinists,  and,  at  the  time  in 
question,  were  found  in  every  part  of  France, 
and  numbered  two  million.  They  had  endured 
every  sort  of  persecution;  many  had  been  run- 
demned  by  the  Chatnbre  Ardente  to  be  burnt  tor 
heresy,  and  their  estates  were  confiscated.  At 
length,  in  1560,  being  secretly  encouraged  by 
Conde,  a  prince  of  the  blood  royal,  a  conspijacy 
was  formed  to  resist  by  arms  the  tyranny  of  the 
government.  The  plot  was  discovered,  and  «.ost 
the  lives  of  about  one  thousand  two  hundred 
persons. 

On  the  accession  of  Charles  IX  to  the  throne 
of  France,  being  advised  by  the  queen  mother, 
Catherine,  he  granted  toleration  and  many  privi- 
leges to  the  persecuted  sect.  This  awakened  the 
jealousy  of  the  Catholics,  and  especially  of  the 
Duke  of  Guise,  the  chief  minister  of  State.  A 
civil  war  was  imminent.  A  number  of  Hugue- 
nots, engaged  in  worship  in  a  barn,  were  insulted 


Pioneer  of  American  Colonization.       17 

by  the  servants  of  the  Duke  as  he  was  passing 
that  way,  and  in  the  tnklie  which  followed  the 
Duke  was  wounded  in  the  face  by  a  stone.  See- 
ing this,  his  attendants  became  furious,  and  killed 
a  number  of  the  Huguenots.  The  reports  of  this 
affray  went  abroad  in  an  exaggerated  form,  and 
in  a  shoft  space  the  whole  country  was  in  a  blaze 
of  civil  war. 

The  first  batde  was  fought  at  Dreux,  and  the 
Huguenots  were  defeated,  and  their  commander, 
Conde,  was  taken  prisoner. 

The  next  year  the  Duke  of  Guise,  while  at 
the  siege  of  Orleans,  was  stabbed  by  an  assassin. 
On  his  dying  bed  he  exhorted  the  queen  mother, 
who  had  unbounded  influence  at  court,  to  make 
peace  with  the  Huguenots.  She  complied  with 
his  request,  and  favorable  terms  of  pacification 
were  granted;  but  in  a  few  years  after,  the  war 
broke  out  afresh.  In  the  first  battle,  the  leader 
of  the  Huguenots,  the  Constable  Montmorenci, 
was  killed.  The  next  great  battle  was  fought  at 
Jarnac,  March  13,  1569,  and  the  Prince  Conde 
was  obliged   to   surrender.     Being   wounded,   he 


1 8  Sir  Walter  Raleigh. 

was  placed  by  a  tree,  when  an  officer  of  the 
enemy  came  behind  him,  and  in  a  dastardly 
manner  shot  him  dead. 

Queen  Elizabeth,  who  was  now  on  the  throne 
»f  England,  did  not  formally  engage  on  the  side 
of  the  Protestants;  but  it  had  all  her  sympathies, 
and  she  winked  at  the  unauthorized  participa- 
tion of  her  subjects  in  the  war.  Men,  ships, 
provisions,  and  money  were  freely  contributed, 
which  so  offended  the  government  of  France  that 
it  was  on  the  point  of  declaring  war  against 
England. 

The  religious  conflict  went  on  in  France,  and 
finally  culminated  in  the  massacre  of  St.  Bar- 
tholomew's Day.  The  Queen  Mother  Catherine, 
now  'become  ferocious,  conceived  the  diaboHcal 
purpose  of  murdering  at  one  fell  stroke  all  the 
hated  Huguenots  in  the  kingdom.  It  required 
all  her  art  to  inveigle  the  young  king  into  her 
scheme;  but  at  last  he  yielded.  The  night  of 
the  24th  of  August,  1572,  was  set  for  the  execu- 
tion of  the  plot.  The  great  bell  of  the  palace 
was  rung,  and  the  Swiss  guards  of  tlie  king  led 


Pioneer  of  American  Colonization.       19 

the  way  for  the  whole  miHtary  to  enact  the  horrid 
scene.  The  Duke  of  Guise  rushed  with  a  band 
of  soldiers  to  the  residence  of  the  Admiral  Co- 
ligny,  the  aged  and  venerable  leader  of  the  Hu- 
guenots, and  surprised  him  in  bed.  As  one  of 
the  assassins  approached  him  with  a  drawn  sword, 
he  said  to  him,  "Young  man,  you  ought  to  rev- 
erence these  gray  hairs.  But  do  your  work;  my 
life  can  be  shortened  but  a  little."  His  body  was 
thrown  out  of  the  window.  It  was  taken  to 
Rome,  and  hung  on  a  gibbet  by  the  feet.  In 
this  manner  every  house  where  Huguenots  lived 
was  broken  into,  and  its  inmates  were  put  to 
death,  without  respect  to  age  or  sex.  And  the 
same  scenes  were  enacted  in  every  province  of 
the  realm.  Seventy  thousand  persons,  it  is  reck- 
oned, perished  in  that  dreadful  night.  The  young 
king  murdered  his  own  peace,  for  he  never  knew 
rest  to  his  conscience  from  that  hour.  His  Prot- 
estant nurse,  whose  life  he  had  spared,  was  with 
him  at  his  dying  hour.  Hearing  him  groaning, 
she  went  to  his  bed,  and  opened  the  curtain,  and 
asked  what  distressed  him.      ''Alas,   nurse!''    he 


20  Sir  Walter  Raleigh. 

cried.  *' What  blood!  what  murder!  Ah,  I  have 
followed  wicked  counsel!  O  my  God,  forgive 
me!     Have  mercy  upon  me  if  thou  wilt!" 

Raleigh  was  in  France  at  this  time,  and  until 
1576.  How  he  escaped^  the  massacre,  and  of 
what  he  was  doing,  we  have  no  account.  His 
own  silence  on  the  subject  is  accounted  for  by 
the  fact  that  the  English  allies  of  the  Huguenots 
had  no  authority  from  their  own  government  for 
enlisting  in  the  civil  wars  of  France,  and  they 
fought  with  the  assurance  that,  if  taken  prisoners, 
they  were  liable  to  be  hung.  The  persecution  of 
the  Huguenots,  of  which  we  have  a  glimpse  at 
this  point  of  history,  went  on  for  a  century,  until 
the  land  was  cleared  of  them  by  death  and  emi- 
gration. More  than  two  millions  of  the  best  in- 
habitants of  France  fled  to  Switzerland,  Germany, 
England,  and  America,  carrying  with  them  art, 
wealth,  and  the  principles  of  the  Reformation. 


Pioneer  of  American  Colonization.       21 


dl\^tef  III. 

DISCOVERY  AND  COLONIZATION  OF  AMERICA — RALEIGH'S 
FIRST  ADVENTURES. 

COMING  from  the  civil  wars  of  France,  we 
trace  Raleigh  to  his  native  land,  planning 
with  his  renowned  step-brother  Humphrey  Gilbert 
to  make  discoveries  of  the  north-west  passage. 

As  early  as  A.  D.  986,  an  Icelander  named 
Herjalfson,  on  a  voyage  to  Greenland,  was  over- 
taken by  a  storm,  and  driven  to  a  land  that  was 
so  different  from  Greenland  that  they  knew  it  was 
another  country.  From  his  stories  about  it  on  his 
return  it  is  conjectured  to  have  been  Labrador  or 
Newfoundland. 

This  awakened  the  spirit  of  discovery  in  others, 
and  an  expedition  was  fitted  out  under  Captain 
Lief  Erickson,  in  A.  D.  looi.  He  discovered 
and  explored  the  coast  of  Labrador.  Thence  he 
sailed  southward  as  far  as  Massachusetts,  and  the 


2  2  Sir  Walter  Raleigh. 

next  year  went  on  to  Rhode  Island,  and  round  to 
the  mouth  of  the  Hudson,  River.  The  same 
year,  1002,  his  brother  Thorwald  took  the  same 
route  as  far  as  Fall  River,  Massachusetts,  where 
he  died.  In  1005,  another  brother,  Thorstein, 
came  to  Massachusetts.  In  1007,  Thorfinn  Karl- 
sefne,  a  noted  navigator,  took  one  hundred  and 
fifty  men,  and  made  explorations  along  the  coast 
as  far  as  Virginia.  They  gave  the  country  the 
name  of  Vinland.  Small  colonies  were  planted 
by  Norwegian  and.  Icelandic  adventurers  in  New- 
foundland and  Nova  Scotia.  But  all  these  at- 
tempts were  ephemeral,  and  nothing  came  of 
them.  In  after  years  vessels  from  Norway  visited 
these  coasts.  They  were  supposed  to  be  a  con- 
tinuation of  Greenland,  and  no  idea  of  a  new 
continent  discovered  ever  came  to  Europe  until 
after  Columbus  had  made  his  discoveries. 

His  idea  was  that,  the  earth  being  a  globe,  a 
passage  could  be  made  to  the  Indies  by  proceed- 
ing westward.  As  early  as  1356,  in  the  first 
English  book  ever  printed.  Sir  John  Mandeville 
expressed  this  conviction,  derived  from  his  own 


Pioneer  of  American  Colonization.       23 

observation  of  the  stars  in  traveling  northward 
and  southward.  But  it  was  reserved  to  Columbus 
to  reduce  the  speculation  to  experiment.  In  the 
evening  of  the  nth  of  October,  1492,  after  sev- 
enty days'  sailing,  he  saw  a  light  moving  on  the 
horizon  which  betokened  land,  and  when  tlie  morn- 
ing dawned  he  heard  the  cry  of  *'land!"  from 
Rodrigo  Triana,  and  in  a  litde  while  he  stepped 
ashore  at  the  Isle  of  San  Salvador,  with  the  flag 
of  Castile  in  his  hand,  and  followed  by  his  rejoic- 
ing crew.  In  this  voyage  he  discovered  Concep- 
tion, Cuba,  and  Hayti,  and  having  built  a  fort 
out  of  the  timber  of  one  of  his  little  ships,  the 
Santa  Maria^  he  returned  to  electrify  the  Old 
World  with  the  news  of  his  success.  On  his 
second  voyage  he  discovered  Jamaica  and  Porto 
Rico,  and  on  the  third  he  discovered  the  South 
American  Continent  near  the  Orinoco  River. 

In  1499  Amerigo  Vespucci  discovered  the 
South  American  coast,  and  again  in  1501  he  ex- 
plored it,  and  published  the  fact  that  it  was  not 
India,  but  another  continent. 

In  1 5 10,  a  Spanish  colony  was  planted  on  the 


24  Sir  Walter  Raleigh. 

Isthmus  of  Darien.  The  governor,  Vasco  Nunez 
de  Balboa,  crossed  the  Isthmus,  and  first  saw  the 
Pacific  Ocean,  and  pompously  took  possession  of 
it  in  the  name  of  the  King  of  Spain. 

Florida  was  discovered  in  15 12  by  Juan  Ponce 
de  Leon,  who  made  a  landing  near  St.  Augustine. 
On  a  second  voyage  to  this  region  he  was  shot  by 
an  arrow  from  the  Indians,  who  resisted  his  land- 
ing, and  he  withdrew,  to  die  of  his  wound  in  Cuba. 

In  the  year  1517  Yucatan  and  the  Bay  of 
Campeachy  were  discovered  by  Fernandez  de 
Cordova,  who  met  the  same  fate  at  the  hands  of 
the  natives.  Two  years  afterward  Cortez  began 
the  invasion  and  conquest  of  Mexico. 

In  15 19  Ferdinand  Magellan,  a  Portuguese 
captain,  set  out  from  Seville,  under  the  patronage 
of  the  King  of  Spain,  to  discover  a  south-west 
passage  to  India;  and,  after  spending  several 
months  in  Brazil,  the  next  Spring  he  passed  down 
to  the  straits  which  now  bear  his  name,  and  pen- 
etrated into  the  Pacific.  Then,  proceeding  west- 
ward, he  reached  the  Ladrones,  and  after  that 
the  Philippine  Islands,  where  he  lost  his  life  in  a 


Pioneer  of  American  Colonization.       25 

battle  with  the  natives.  The  fleet  went  on  to  the 
Moluccas..  There  one  vessel  took  in  a  cargo  of 
spices,  and  leaving  the  rest,  as  too  much  strained 
to  pursue  the  voyage,  passed  round  the  Cape  of 
Good  Hope,  and  reached  Spain  in  safety,  with 
the  announcement  that  the  world  had  been  cir- 
cumnavigated. 

In  1520  the  coast  of  South  Carolina  was  visited 
by  the  infamous  Lucas  Vasquez  de  Ayllon,  who, 
being  driven  by  a  storm,  put  into  the  St.  Helena 
Sound  and  the  Cambahee  River.  The  natives 
came  on  board  to  trade,  and  while  the  decks  were 
crowded  with  them  he  set  sail,  and  carried  them 
off  and  made  slaves  of  them.  One  of  his  ships 
went  to  the  bottom  in  a  storm,  and  all  on  board 
perished.  In  a  few  years  he  returned  to  the 
same  spot.  One  of  his  ships  ran  aground,  when 
the  Indians  made  an  assault  upon  it  and  killed 
many  of  the  crew,  and  compelled  De  Ayllon  to 
escape  as  best  he  could. 

In  1526  Charles  V  granted  to  Pamphila  de 
Narvaez  the  territory  from  Cape  Sable  to  the 
River  of  Palms,  and  in  1528,  with  a  force  of  three 


26  Sir  Walter  Raleigh. 

hundred  men,  he  entered  Tampa  Bay  and  landed 
to  explore  the  country,  and  took  possession.  But 
after  incredible  hardship  the  whole  of  this  force 
perished,  except  four  men,  who  came  out  of  their 
wandering  on  the  Pacific  Coast,  at  what  is  now 
the  village  of  San  Miguel. 

The  year  1539  saw  a  fleet  of  ten  vessels,  under 
Ferdinand  de  Soto,  enter  Tampa  Bay,  commis- 
sioned to  explore  the  country.  Our  limits  will 
not  allow  us  to  follow  the  marvelous  fortunes  of 
this  company,  as  they  traversed  the  regions  east 
and  west  of  the  Mississippi  as  far  as  the  borders 
of  the  State  of  Missouri.  Disappointed  in  his 
pursuit  of  El  Dorado,  and  overcome  by  fatigue, 
De  Soto  fell  a  prey  to  a  malignant  fever,  and  was 
buried  in  the  Mississippi  River. 

It  was  not  till  1568  that  the  attempt  to  colo- 
nize Florida  was  renewed,  and  then  it  was  for  the 
diabolical  purpose  of  dispersing  a  Huguenot  col- 
ony that  had  formed  a  residence  on  the  St.  John's 
River.  Philip  II  gave  the  command  of  the  ex- 
pedition to  Pedro  Melender.  Having  laid  the 
foundations  of  St.  Augustine,  the  first  town  planted 


Pioneer  of  American  Colonization.       27 

in  the  present  territory  of  the  United  States,  he 
started  on  his  murderous  enterprise,  and  surprised 
the  colony  of  Protestants,  and  butchered  them, 
men,  women,  and  children,  to  the  number  of  two 
hundred.  Seven  hundred  seamen  were  in  the 
neighborhood,  having  escaped  from  their  wrecked 
vessels,  which  had  gone  down  the  river  expecting 
to  meet  the  hostile  forces  by  the  way  of  the  sea. 
These  were  captured  and  marched  to  St.  Augus- 
tine, and  there  were  slaughtered  without  mercy. 
The  leader  of  the  Huguenot  colony,  Laudonniere, 
with  a  few  men,  escaped  to  the  coast,  and  were 
rescued  by  the  two  vessels  that  had  escaped  the 
storm  which  sent  the  rest  to  their  destruction.  How 
mysterious  the  ways  of  Providence,  that  he  should 
allow  the  elements  to  conspire  with  the  wicked- 
ness of  man  to  extinguish  the  light  of  the  Refor- 
mation on  these  shores!  It  was  his  will  that 
Protestant  colonies  should  be  planted  further 
northward. 

In  1 501  a  Portuguese  captain  named  Cortereal 
explored  the  coast  of  Maine,  and  carried  off  fifty 
natives,  and  sold  them  as  slaves  in  Europe.     The 


28  Sir  Walter  Raleigh. 

next  year  he  went  on  the  same  nefarious  expedi- 
tion, bui-  was  never  heard  of  afterward. 

France  sent  her  fishermen  to  the  Banks  of 
Newfoundland  in  1504;  and  1524  an  expedition 
was  fitted  out  by  Francis  1  to  discover  a  north- 
west passage.  John  Verrazzani,  a  Florentine,  com- 
manded a  fleet  of  four  vessels  when  they  started, 
but  three  of  them  were* disabled  by  a  tempest, 
and  he  proceeded  with  but  a  solitary  ship.  He 
first  touched  the  coast  in  the  neighborhood  of 
Wilmington,  North  Carolina;  thence  he  passed 
along  to  New  Jersey  and  to  New  York  Harbor; 
thence  to  Newport  and  the  coast  of  Massachu- 
setts; thence  to  Nova  Scotia  and  Newfoundland. 
He  gave  the  name  of  New  France  to  these  coun- 
tries. In  1534  James  Cartier  came  with  two  ships 
to  Newfoundland,  and  then,  seeking  the  north- 
west passage,  he  discovered  the  Gulf  and  River 
St.  Lawrence.  The  report  of  this  awakened  the 
deepest  interest  in  France,  and  he  was  commis- 
sioned to  plant  a  colony  in  this  region.  He  pen- 
etrated the  river  in  boats  as  far  as  Montreal,  and 
wintered  there  f®ur  years  afterward.     Cartier  was 


Pioneer  of  American  Colonization.       29 

associated  with  Francis  of  La  Roque,  Lord  of 
Roberval,  to  lead  another  colony  to  the  St.  Law- 
rence. Finding  the  people  uninclined  to  enlist, 
the  Government  adopted  the  expedient  of  giving 
liberty  to  the  prisoners  who  would  volunteer  to 
embark  for  America.  With  this  strange  company 
they  entered  the  St.  Lawrence  in  1541,  and 
selected  the  present  Quebec  as  the  site  of  the 
settlement,  and  built  a  fort.  But  though  this 
colony  was  re-enforced  the  next  year  with  a  fresh 
supply  of  the  same  sort  of  persons,  the  whole 
enterprise  failed  and  came  to  naught. 

This  ended  French  colonization  for  fifty  years, 
as  attempted  by  the  Government. 

In  1562  the  Huguenot  Admiral  Coligny  ob- 
tained from  Charles  IX  the  privilege  of  sending 
forth  a  colony  of  the  persecuted  Protestants, 
under  Captain  John  Ribault.  They  first  touched 
at  Florida,  and  then  came  to  Port  Royal,  where 
they  erected  a  fort,  and  gave  to  it  the  name  of 
Carolina,  in  honor  of  the  king.  There  he  left 
twenty-four  men ;  but  not  being  able  to  re-enforce 
them,   on  account  of  the  troubles  of  the  times, 


30  Sir  Walter  Raleigh. 

they  became  discouraged,  and  constructed  a  vessel 
and  left  for  France.  The  next  attempt  was  made 
in  the  neighborhood  of  St.  Augustine;  but  it  was 
destroyed  by  Melendez.  Vengeance  was  taken 
for  this  slaughter  by  Dominic  de  Gourges,  who. 
came  with  three  ships  and  surprised  three  of  the 
Spanish  forts,  and  hanged  the  captives  on  trees, 
with  the  inscription  over  them,  "Not  Spaniards 
but  murderers." 

In  1598  the  Marquis  de  la  Roche  planted  a 
small  colony  of  forty  released  criminals  on  Sable 
Island,  but  they  escaped  back  to  France  by  ships 
passing  the  coast. 

In  1605  De  Monts  planted  in  Nova  Scotia  the 
first  permanent  French  colony  in  North  America, 
and  gave  the  country  the  name  of  Acadia. 

In  1608  Champlain  made  a  second  voyage  to 
the  St.  Lawrence,  and  settled  a  colony  at  Quebec. 
The  following  year  he  discovered  the  noble  lake 
to  which  his  name  is  given. 

Glance  now  at  English  adventurers. 

The  first  discovery  of  the  real  Continent  of 
North  America  was  made  in  1496  by  John  Cabot, 


Pioneer  of  American  Colonization.       31 

who,  in  the  employ  of  the  English  Government, 
bore  the  flag  of  England  to  the  coast  of  Labrador 
full  fourteen  months  beore  Columbus  saw  the  coast 
of  Guiana.  He  took  the  country  to  be  the  king- 
dom of  the  Cham  of  Tartary.  By  the  side  of  the 
English  flag  he  set  up  the  flag  of  his  native  land, 
the  Republic  of  Venice ! 

In  1498  his  son,  Sebastian  Cabot,  visited  the 
country  discovered  by  his  father,  and  explored  the 
whole  coast  as  far  southward  as  Cape  Hatteras. 

In  1576  Martin  Frobisher,  searching  for  the 
north-west  passage,  discovered  the  strait  called  by 
his  name,  and  afterward  also  Hudson's  Strait,  in 
latitude  63°  8'.  The  next  year  he  returned  to 
the  same  region,  but  did  not  dare  to  go  so  far 
north  on  account  of  the  icebergs;  and  the  year 
following  he  renewed  the  attempt,  and  passed  into 
Hudson's  Strait. 

Sir  Francis  Drake  in  1577  passed  through  the 
Straits  of  Magellan  into  the  Pacific  Ocean,  and 
ascended  as  far  as  Oregon  in  search  of  the  long- 
desired  passage,  and  gave  the  name  of  New 
Albion  to  all  this  coast. 


32  Sir  Walter  Raleigh. 

We  come  now  to  the  part  which  our  hero, 
Walter  Raleigh,  had  in  the  colonization  of  North 
America  by  Englishmen.  His  step-brother,  Sir 
Humphrey  Gilbert,  obtained  from  Queen  Eliza- 
beth a  patent  to  take  possession  of  any  six  hun- 
dred square  miles  of  territory  not  yet  occupied  on 
the  coast  of  North  America. 

A  large  company  were  associated  in  this  enter- 
prise, and  ample  preparations  were  made  to  put 
to  sea,  when  the  English  Court  interposed  on  ac- 
count of  objections  made  by  the  King  of  Spain, 
who  absurdly  claimed  the  whole  of  America  as  his 
dominion  by  right  of  previous  discovery  and  oc- 
cupation !  However,  the  two  brothers,  disregard- 
ing this  injunction,  set  sail  with  two  vessels;  but 
they  were  met  at  sea  by  Spanish  men-of-war,  and 
after  an  engagement  in  which  they  suffered  defeat 
with  the  loss  of  many  men,  they  were  obliged  to 
put  back.  Five  years  afterward  the  attempt  was 
renewed  under  better  auspices.  To  this  we  shall 
return,  after  we  have  followed  our  hero  to  another 
and  far  different  engagement  in  Ireland. 


Pioneer  of  American  Colonization.       33 


dl\k|)tef  IV. 

CIVIL  WARS   IN   IRELAND. 

''  I  ^HE  Irish  people,  being  mostly  adherents  of 
-•-  the  Church  of  Rome,  and  of  an  aspiring 
and  turbulent  disposition,  have  never  been  con- 
tented under  the  rule  of  Protestant  England. 
The  entire  reign  of  Elizabeth  was  marked  by 
tragic  scenes  of  rebellion,  riot,  and  civil  war. 
In  157O;  Philip  II  instigated  a  plot  to  revolution- 
ize Ireland,  and  to  place  the  natural  son  of  Pope 
Gregory  XIII  on  an  independent  throne.  This 
movement  was  thwarted;  but  in  a  few  years  it 
was  revived  under  the  leadership  of  the  Earl 
of  Desmond.  The  insurrection  took  formidable 
shape  in  Munsler.  At  Smerwich,  in  Kerry,  an 
invading  party  of  Spaniards  and  Italians  landed 
under  the  command  of  San  Joseph,  and  con- 
structed a  fort,  which  they  called  "Del  Oro." 
Walter  Raleigh  enlisted  for  the  suppression 
3 


34  Sir  Walter  Raleigh. 

of  this  rebellion,  and  was  actively  engaged,  wc 
know  not  to  what  extent,  under  the  command  of 
Thomas,  Earl  of  Ormond,  and  Governor  of 
Munster.  In  1580,  we  find  him  one  of  a  com 
mission  to  try  James,  the  brother  of  the  Earl  of 
Desmond.  The  case  was  a  clear  one,  and  the 
execution  of  this  distinguished  rebel  had  a  great 
influence  to  discourage  the  insurrection.  At  Ra- 
kele  an  encampment  was  vacated  by  the  English 
forces,  and  was  immediately  taken  possession  of 
by  the  Irish.  This  was  anticipated  by  Raleigh, 
and  an  ambush  was  laid  for  them,  and  they  were 
taken  prisoners.  One  of  the  prisoners  had  a 
bundle  of  withes  on  his  shoulder,  and  being 
asked  what  he  was  going  to  do  with  them,  he 
replied:  "To  hang  up  the  English  churls  with!" 
"Is  it  so?"  said  Raleigh;  "they  shall  now  serve 
for  an  Irish  kerne."  And  he  ordered  the  man  to 
be  strangled  with  his  own  willows.  He  has  been 
censured  for  this  act;  but  he  justified  himself  by 
necessity  of  striking  terror  into  the  minds  of  the 
rebels. 

A  certain  Lord  Barey,  in  the  county  of  Cork, 


Pioneer  of  American  Colonization.       35 

was  suspected  of  abetting  the  rebellion,  and  Ra- 
leigh, at  his  own  request,  was  ordered  to  surprise 
him  in  his  castle  at  Barey  Court.  His  coming 
was  anticipated,  and  an  ambush  was  laid  for  him 
at  a  ford  near  Cork.  With  great  presence  of 
mind  he  collected  around  him  his  little  band, 
and  made  a  dash  upon  the  thick  ranks  of  the  troops 
opposing  his  march,  and  fought  his  way  through 
them.  In  the  fight,  a  follower  named  Henry 
Moyle,  to  whom  he  was  attached,  twice  foundered 
in  the  bog,  and  was  twice  rescued  by  Raleigh  at 
the  hazard  of  his  own  life.  He  was  at  another 
moment  struck  from  his  horse,  and  stood  face  to 
face  with  twenty  men,  with  nothing  but  his  pis- 
tol and  quarter-staff  to  defend  himself.  But  he 
escaped,  and  so  did  every  man  in  his  escort. 
He  lost  nothing  but  his  horse,  and  gained  the 
reputation  of  a  great  fighter. 

It  was  deemed  of  greatest  importance  to  de- 
stroy the  garrison  of  Del  Oro,  at  Smerwich,  by 
which  Spanish  vessels  were  supplying  the  rebellion 
with  all  kinds  of  stores  and  munitions  of  war. 
The    Deputy    Lord   Grey   commanded    the    land 


$6  Sir  Walter  Raleigh. 

forces  in  person,  and  Admiral  Sir  Wm.  Winter  the 
fleet  sent  to  besiege  the  fort.  The  attack  was  re- 
sisted three  days,  when  Captains  Raleigh  and 
Mackworth  penetrated  the  fort,  and  demanded 
unconditional  surrender.  A  white  flag  was  held 
out;  but  Lord  Grey  would  listen  to  nothing  but 
absolute  submission.  ''The  enemy,"  writes  the 
Deputy  in  his  dispatches  to  the  government, 
**  begged  for  a  surcease  of  arms.  I  definitely 
answered  I  would  not  grant  it.  Either  pres- 
ently he  must  take  my  offer,  or  else  return,  and 
I  would  fall  to  my  business.  He  then  embraced 
my  knees,  simply  putting  himself  to  my  mercy; 
only  he  prayed  that  for  this  night  he  might  abide 
in  the  fort,  and  that  in  the  morning  all  should  be 
put  into  my  hands.  I  asked  for  hostages  for  the 
performances.  .  .  .  Morning  came;  I  pre- 
sented my  companies  in  battle  before  the  fort. 
.  ,  I  sent  straight  certain  gentlemen  to  see 
weapons  and  ammunition  laid  down.  Then  I 
put  in  certain  bands,  who  straightway  fell  to  exe- 
cution. There  were  six  hundred  slain.  Those  I 
gave   life   unto,   I   have  bestowed  upon  the  cap- 


Pioneer  of  American  Colonization.       37 

tains  and  gentlemen,  whose  service  both  well  de- 
served." 

This  oruel  slaughter  was  disgraceful  even  for 
those  times;  but  it  was  apologized  for  by  the 
poet  Spenser  and  others  as  a  justifiable  treatment 
of  the  foreign  *' brigands,"  many  of  whom  were 
criminals  released  from  ItaHan  prisons  by  the 
Pope,  and  sent  to  maintain  insurrection  and  re- 
bellion in  a  distant  land. 

One  notable  adventure  of  Raleigh  was  his 
seizure  of  Lord  Roche  at  his  estate  in  Prathy, 
about  twenty  miles  from  Cork.  This  nobleman 
was  suspected  of  secretly  aiding  the  rebellion, 
and  Raleigh  deemed  it  important  to  take  this 
prop  from  the  rebels,  and  offered  to  undertake 
his  capture,  and  bring  him  and  his  family  to 
Cork.  Some  of  the  rebels  got  wind  of  this,  and 
a  force  of  eight  hundred  men,  under  Fitz-Ed- 
monds,  were  thrown  in  Raleigh's  path;  but  he 
was  too  quick  for  them,  and  by  a  night's  march 
got  by  the  place  for  the  ambuscade  before  they 
had  reached  it.  At  Prathy  he  found  five  hundred 
men  in  arms  awaiting  him ;  but  he  managed  with 


38  Sir  Walter  Raleigh. 

his  small  escort  to  amuse  them,  while  he,  with  a 
handful  of  men,  made  his  way  to  the  castle,  fol- 
lowed by  another  small  band.  Arrived  at  the 
gates  of  the  castle,  the  guards  objected  to  his 
entrance  with  more  than  two  attendants;  but 
Raleigh  managed  deftly  to  get  his  six  soldiers 
inside,  and  the  others  coming  up  had  the  same 
success.  Lord  Roche,  finding  an  armed  force 
within  his  gates,  made  the  best  of  the  circum- 
stances; protested  his  loyalty  to  the  queen,  and 
ordered  a  table  to  be  spread  for  the  entertain- 
ment of  his  unexpected  guests !  Raleigh  lost  no 
time  in  making  known  his  purpose  to  take  him 
away  to  Cork  and  exhibited  the  warrant  for  his 
arrest.  Nothing  could  be  done  but  for  him  and 
his  family  to  get  ready  for  a  night  journey  to 
Cork.  This  was  accomplished  over  unfrequented 
routes,  at  considerable  peril,  and  with  the  loss 
of  one  soldier's  life,  who  fell  from  the  rocks,  and 
the  wounding  by  falls  of  several  others.  They 
avoided,  however,  the  ambuscades  on  the  direct 
road,  and  at  dawn  Raleigh  presented  his  prison 
ers  to  Lord  Ormond.     Upon  examination.   Lord 


Pioneer  of  American  Colonization.       39 

Roche  was  lionorably  acquitted,  and  was  never 
after  suspected  of  complicity  with  the  rebellion. 
Indeed,  he  took  an  active  part  in  support  of  the 
queen's  authority,  and  three  of  his  sons  fell  in 
battle  fighting  for  the  government. 

Upon  the  recall  of  Ormond  as  Deputy,  a  joint 
commission  was  given  to  Raleigh  and  two  other 
gentlemen  to  act  as  governors  of  Ireland.  He 
established  his  headquarters  at  Cork.  In  furious 
conflicts  with  rebel  forces  he  displayed  much 
skill  and  bravery.  At  Clove  he  had  a  horse  shot 
under  him,  and  would  have  lost  his  life  but  for 
the  attachment  and  bravery  of  one  of  his  follow- 
ers, Nicholas  Wright.  In  1582  he  was  relieved 
from  his  command,  and  returned  to  England, 
having  the  satisfaction  of  seeing  the  rebellion 
quelled. 


40  Sir  Walter  Raleigh. 


Cl\k|)tef    V. 

RALEIGH    AT    THE    COURT    OF    ELIZABETH  —  ESSEX— LADY 
ARABELLA  STUART — SIR  PHILIP  SIDNEY — SPENSER. 

OOON  after  Raleigh's  appearance  at  Court,  a 
*^-^  question  concerning  the  management  of 
affairs  in  Ireland  by  Lord  Grey  was  argued  before 
the  Council  Board,  and  Raleigh,  who  took  ground 
against  the  Earl,  was  heard  by  the  Council  in  the 
presence  of  the  queen.  His  penetrating,  piquant, 
and  splendid  delivery  won  her  admiration,  and 
from  this  time,  Sir  Robert  Naunton  remarks,  ' '  she 
took  him  for  a  kind  of  oracle,"  and  loved  to  hear 
him  debate  any  case  he  might  have  occasion  to 
present  to  her.  On  his  part,  he  was  bent  on 
securing  the  personal  affection  of  Elizabeth.  It 
is  related  that  he  met  her  one  day  on  the  marshy 
shore  at  Greenwich,  and,  to  save  her  from  wet- 
ting her  feet,  threw  down  his  gorgeous  velvet 
cloak  for  a  carpet.     He  addressed  to  her  some 


Pioneer  of  American  Colonization.       4] 

adulatory  poetry ;  and  on  a  window  of  the  palace, 
where  it  was  sure  to  meet  her  eye,  he  scratched, 
with  a  diamond  ring: 

**  Fain  would  I  climb,  but  that  I  fear  to  fall." 

Seeing  it,  she  wrote  under  it:' 

"If  thy  heart  fail  thee,  climb  not  at  all." 

Elizabeth  was  about  forty  years  of  age,  ten 
years  the  senior  of  Raleigh.  She  could  not,  for 
state  reasons,  allow  her  affections  to  be  engrossed 
by  any  of  her  admirers,  but  was  nevertheless  sus- 
ceptible of  the  romantic  sentiment  of  love.  Nor 
could  Raleigh  have  aspired  to  any  thing  more — 
but  so  much  he  meant  to  have.  He  was  well 
calculated  to  interest  any  lady.  To  his  fame  as  a 
soldier  and  scholar  he  added  the  charm  of  a 
countenance  expressive  of  intelligence  and  reso- 
lution, a  tall  and  well-proportioned  form,  manners 
graceful  in  the  extreme,  and  a  copious  and  ready 
wit  in  conversation.  He  prided  himself  on  his 
costly  and  elegant  dress,  after  the  showy  fashion 
of  the  day.  In  one  of  several  portraits  extant, 
his  array  is  a  white  satin  pinked  vest  with  close 


42  Sir  Walter  Raleigh. 

sleeves,  a  brown  doublet,  flowered  and  embroi- 
dered with  pearls,  a  pearl -embroidered  belt,  a 
dagger  with  a  jeweled  pommel,  a  black  feather  in 
his  hat,  contrasted  with  a  ruby  and  pearl  drop, 
white  satin  trunk  hose,  and  buff-colored  shoes, 
tied  with  white  ribbons.  His  silver  armor  was 
preserved  in  the  Tower,  as  a  curiosity.  On  one 
occasion  his  shoes  were  adorned  with  jewels 
computed  to  be  worth  upward  of  six  thousand 
six  hundred  gold  pieces!  Such  a  display  would 
excite  disgust  in  this  day;  but  it  passed  for  good 
taste  in  the  court  of  the  queen.  She  too  was 
fond  of  rich  and  showy  attire.  In  person  she  was 
described  by  Sir  Robert  Naunton  as  ' '  tall,  of  hair 
and  complexion  fair;  and  therewithal  well  fa- 
vored, but  high-nosed;  of  limbs  and  features 
neat;  of  a  stately  and  majestic  comportment." 
She  was  specially  proud  of  her  delicate  hands. 
' '  She  pulled  off  her  gloves  more  than  a  hundred 
times,"  said  a  contemporary  of  an  audience  he 
had  with  her,  ' '  to  display  her  hands,  which  were 
indeed  very  beautiful  and  very  white." 

Notwithstanding  her  serious  attention  to  public 


Pioneer  of  American  Colonization.       43 

business,  Elizabeth  was  fond  of  amusements,  and 
many  were  the  pageants,  plays,  masques,  and 
tournaments  which  were  exhibited  in  her  court, 
and  marked  her  costly  visits  to  the  seats  of  her 
favorite  noblemen.  In  all  these  pastimes  Raleigh 
bore  his  part,  and  every  day  ingratiated  himself 
in  the  affections  of  the  queen,  as  the  celebrated 
Leicester  had  done  at  an  early  period  of  her  life. 
This  favoritism  was  a  matter  of  public  gossip,  and 
was  severely  criticised.  A  foreign  embassador, 
writing  home,  calls  her  Cleopatra;  and  even  a 
popular  actor,  Taylor,  ventured  to  point  to 
Raleigh  while  repeating  in  the  part  he  was  acting 
the  words,  "See  how  the  knave  commands  the 
queen !"  The  queen  resented  it,  and  banished 
him  from  the  court.  Spenser  confessed  to  Raleigh 
that  he  meant  him  and  Elizabeth  in  the  Timias 
and  Belphoebe  of  the  ''Faerie  Queene." 

A  letter  written  to  Sir  Robert  Cecil,  when 
Raleigh  was  by  the  queen's  order  a  prisoner  in 
the  Tower,  as  a  punishment  for  his  intrigue  and 
marriage  with  Elizabeth  Throckmorton,  displays 
only  the   courtly  style  of  adulation,  rather  than 


44  Sir  Walter  Raleigh. 

real  affection:  '*My  heart  was  never  broken  till 
that  day  that  I  hear  the  queen  goes  away  so  far 
off,  whom  I  have  followed  so  many  years  with  so 
great  love  and  desire  in  so  many  journeys,  and 
am  now  left  behind  here  in  a  dark  prison  all 
alone.  While  she  was  yet  near  at  hand,  that  I 
might  hear  of  her  once  in  two  or  three  days,  my 
sorrows  were  the  less;  but  even  now  my  heart  is 
cast  into  the  depths  of  all  misery.  I,  that  was 
wont  to  behold  her  riding  like  Alexander,  hunt- 
ing like  Diana,  walking  like  Venus,  the  gentle 
wind  blowing  her  fair  hair  about  her  pure  cheeks 
like  a  nymph.  Sometimes  setting  in  the  shade 
like  a  goddess ;  sometimes  singing  like  an  angel ; 
sometimes  playing  like  Orpheus.  •  Behold  the  sor- 
rows of  this  world !"  It  is  clear  enough  that 
Elizabeth's  heart  was  more  touched  than  Ra- 
leigh's, and  that  it  was  her  jealous,  disappointed 
love    which  punished  him  so  severely. 

But  we  anticipate  our  story.  At  present  Ra- 
leigh is  in  high  favor,  and  his  influence  is  sought 
even  by  distinguished  noblemen.  He  is  appointed 
lord  Warden  of  Stannaries  (that  is,  tin  mines), 


Pioneer  of  American  Colonization.       45 

lieutenant  of  the  county  of  Cornwall,  vice-admiral 
of  Cornwall  and  Devon,  and  finally  captain  of  the 
Queen's  Guard,  a  troop  chiefly  distinguished  by 
personal  figure  and  splendid  uniform. 

He  was  sent  in  the  suite  of  the  Earl  of  Leicester 
to  Antwerp  to  honor  the  inauguration  of  Francis 
of  Valois.  He  obtained  grants  of  license  to 
export  broadcloths,  and  the  "farm  of  wines," 
that  is,  authority  to  grant  licenses  to  traders,  and 
to  regulate  prices.  This,  however,  did  not  on 
the  whole  prove  so  very  profitable  to  him,  while 
it  involved  him  in  some  lawsuits,  and  especially 
in  a  disagreeable  controversy  with  the  University 
of  Cambridge,  which  claimed  this  privilege  within 
its  own  precincts.  The  greatest  gift  of  the  queen 
to  her  favorite  was  the  estates  of  Anthon  Babing- 
ton,  who,  in  1586,  was  convicted  of  conspiring  to 
assassinate  her.  This  man  was  the  head  of  an 
ancient  family  in  Northumberland,  and  had  large 
possessions  there  and  in  Derbyshire.  He  was 
educated  by  the  Jesuits,  and  led  a  wild  and  dis- 
sipated life.  He  was  taught  by  his  priest,  one 
•    Ballard,  that  it  would  be  no  crime  to  kill  an  ex- 


46  Sir  Walter  Raleigh. 

communicated  princess,  but  doing  God  service. 
The  motive  was  to  make  room  for  Mary,  Queen 
of  Scots,  who  was  the  next  heir  to  the  throne, 
and  a  Roman  Catholic.  During  his  confinement 
in  prison  he  made  an  overture  through  friends,  or 
arranged  to  do  it,  to  get  Raleigh  to  intercede  for 
him  with  the  queen,  and  offered  to  pay  him  a  thou- 
sand pounds  if  he  could  procure  his  pardon.  But 
there  is  no  evidence  that  Raleigh  gave  the  least 
heed  to  his  solicitation  even  if  it  reached  him. 
The  queen's  grant  not  only  made  Raleigh  rich 
in  lands  and  manors  and  tenements,  forfeited  to 
the  crown  with  all  the  rents,  profits,  and  revenues 
thereof,  but  no  acknowledgment  and  no  fee  was 
required  of  him  in  receiving  the  great  seal  to  his 
grant. 

About  this  time  there  came  a  rival  in  the  favor 
of  the  queen  in  the  person  of  Robert  Devereux, 
the  young  Earl  of  Essex.  He  was  that  smart 
boy,  who,  when  eleven  years  of  age,  turned  away 
from  the  queen  when  she  offered  to  kiss  him.  And 
he  was  now  not  even  twenty  years  of  age,  but 
ripe  beyond  his  years,  and  possessed  of  very  many 


Pioneer  of  American  Colonization.       47 

graces  and  accomplishments.  He  was  put  upon 
this  career,  it  has  been  said,  by  the  Earl  of  Leices- 
ter, Elizabeth's  old  favorite,  out  of  jealousy  of 
the  growing  favoritism  of  Raleigh.  Any  how, 
the  queen  took  this  young  and  handsome  noble- 
man at  once  to  her  good  graces,  and  he  became 
very  intimate  with  her.  "When  she  is  abroad," 
said  a  spectator  of  court  life,  "nobody  is  near 
her  but  my  Lord  of  Essex;  and  at  night  my  Lord 
is  at  cards,  or  one  game  or  another  with  her  till 
the  birds  sing  in  the  morning." 

Very  soon  he  became  arrogant,  and  resented 
the  partiality  of  the  queen  for  the  splendid  cap- 
tain of  her  guards.  He  went  so  far  as  to  write 
to  a  friend  that  he  said  to  her,  "I  was  loth  to  be 
near  her,  when  I  knew  my  affections  so  much 
thrown  down,  and  such  a  wretch  as  Raleigh 
highly  esteemed  of  her!"  Fine  language,  if  in- 
deed he  ever  said  it,  to  a  queen  by  an  upstart  of 
twenty  years  of  age ! 

Another  person,  the  Lady  Arabella  Stuart, 
whose  tragic  fate  resembles  so  much  that  of 
Raleigh,  was  about  this  time  introduced  to  him. 


48  Sir  Walter  Raleigh. 

She  was  the  granddaughter  of  Henry  VII,  and 
cousin  of  James  I,  and  so  after  him,  if  he  had 
no  children,  she  would  be  heir  to  the  throne  of 
England.  A  plot  of  some  nobles,  abetted  by  the 
Pope,  who  imagined  she  was  inclined  to  Roman- 
ism, to  set  aside  James  in  her  favor,  was  the 
cause  of  her  ruin,  though  she  was  wholly  innocent 
of  the  affair.  She  was  now  but  eleven  years  of 
age,  very  beautiful  and  accomplished,  and  it  was 
whispered  in  Raleigh's  ear  that  it  was  a  pity  she 
was  not  older,  to  which  he  replied,  "It  would 
be  a  very  happy  thing."  Edward  Edwards  men- 
tions this  piece  of  gossip,  and  adds,  ''When  the 
same  names  were  brought  together  on  the  latest 
occasion  of  all,  Arabella  lay  beneath  her  shroud 
in  the  prison,  which  to  her  had  but  shortened 
life,  and  embittered  while  degrading  it  Raleigh 
was  beneath  the  same  gloomy  roof,  and  above 
his  head  the  fatal  clouds  were  beginning  to  gather. 
But  in  his  case  a  long  imprisonment  had  given 
birth  to  an  immortal  book.  Save  for  the  twelve 
years  in  the  tower,  English  literature  would  have 
lacked  one  of  its  glories."      But  we  shall  come 


Pioneer  of  American  Colonization.       49 

to  that  fall  soon  enough ;  at  present  life  was  wear- 
ing all  the  bright  hues  of  joy  and  promise. 

Among  the  favorites  of  Elizabeth  should  be 
mentioned  Sir  PhiHp  Sidney,  especially  as  he 
was  a  friend  of  Raleigh,  and  in  literary  genius 
and  knightly  valor  much  resembled  him.  He 
was  born  in  1554,  the  son  of  Sir  Henry  Sidney, 
an  officer  in  government  of  Queen  Mary.  He 
was  educated  at  the  universities  of  Oxford  and 
Cambridge,  and  after  his  graduation  traveled  sev- 
eral years  on  the  continent.  Elizabeth,  on  his 
return  home,  took  him  into  her  service,  and  sent 
him  on  an  embassy  to  Germany.  His  sensitive 
nature  was  so  ruffled  by  a  quarrel  with  the  Earl 
of  Oxford,  that  he  abruptly  left  the  court,  and 
retired  to  the  seat  of  the  Earl  of  Pembroke,  who 
had  married  his  sister.  There  he  employed  him- 
self in  the  completion  of  a  romance,  which  he 
entitled,  in  honor  of  his  sister,  ''The  Countess 
of  Pembroke's  Arcadia" — a  work  which  for  the 
time  was  a  superior  model  of  English  prose,  and 
contributed  to  fix  the  English  tongue.  He  medi- 
tated an  expedition  with  Sir  Francis  Drake  against 
4 


5©  Sir  Walter  Raleigh. 

the  Spanish  settlements  in  America,  but  was  per- 
emptorily forbidden  by  the  queen  to  engage  in  it. 
In  1585,  he  was  mentioned  as  a  candidate  for  the 
crown  of  Poland;  but  this,  too,  EUzabeth  objected 
to,  not  wishing,  she  said,  *'to  lose  the  jewel  of 
the  times."  He  was  subsequently  made  governor 
of  Flushing,  a  town  in  the  Netherlands,  ceded  to 
the  English  for  services  against  the  Spaniards. 
As  general  of  the  horse  he  joined  his  uncle,  the 
Earl  of  Leicester,  who  commanded  the  army  of 
the  English  assisting  the  Dutch  against  Philip  of 
Spain.  In  1586  he  achieved  the  capture  of  the 
town  of  Oxel  as  captain  of  a  detachment  of  En- 
glish troops.  The  same  year,  in  a  skirmish  with 
the  enemy  at  Zutphen,  he  received  a  wound  in 
the  thigh  which  proved  mortal.  As  he  lay  upon 
the  field,  a  cup  of  water  was  brought  to  him; 
and  as  he  was  putting  it  to  his  lips,  a  wounded 
soldier  was  carried  by  who  looked  so  wistfully  to 
the  cup  that  Sir  Philip  ordered  his  attendants  to 
give  it  to  him,  saying  to  the  soldier,  "Thy  neces- 
sity is  greater  than  mine."  His  death  spread 
gloom  over  the  court  of  England,  and  Raleigh  lost 


Pioneer  of  American  Colonization.       51 

a  friend  whose  loss  could  not  be  made  up  to  him. 
He  was  but  thirty-two  years  of  age  at  his  death. 
His  other  writings  extant  are  the  "Defense  of 
Poesy,"  "Astrophel  and  Stella,"  and  "Songs  and 
Sonnets." 

The  best  of  his  sonnets,  as  I  think,  is  the 
following : 

"O  happy  Thames,  that  didst  my  Stella  bear! 

I  saw  thee,  with  full  many  a  smiling  line 
Upon  thy  cheerful  face,  joy's  livery  wear. 

While  these  fair  planets  on  thy  stream  did  shine. 
The  boat  for  joy  could  not  to  dance  forbear, 

While  wanton  winds,  with  beauties  so  divine 
Ravished,  staid  not,  till  in  her  golden  hair 

They  did  themselves, O  sweetest  prison,  twine, 
And  fain  those  iEol's  youth  there  would  tlieir  stay 

Have  made ;  but  forced  by  nature  still  to  fly, 
First  did  with  puffing  kiss  those  locks  display, 

She,  so  dishevel'd,  blushed.     From  window  I, 
With  sight  thereof,  cried  out,  oh  fair  disgrace! 
Let  honor's  self  to  thee  grant  highest  place." 

Another  literary  friend  of  Raleigh  was  Edmund 
Spenser,  the  first  great  poet  of  England  after 
Chaucer.  He  was  born  in  London,  at  East 
Smithfield,  near  the  Tower,  in  1553,  and  gradu- 
ated at  Pembroke  College,  Cambridge,  1569.     He 


52  Sir  Walter  Raleigh. 

was  employed  in  the  capacity  of  secretary  by 
Lord  Grey,  while  Lord  Deputy  to  Ireland;  and 
in  1586  he  received  from  the  queen  a  grant  of  a 
portion  of  the  Earl  of  Desmond's  forfeited  lands. 
The  condition  was  that  he  should  reside  in  Ire- 
land, and  accordingly  he  occupied  the  old  Kilcol- 
man  Castle.  Here  he  wrote  the  *' Faerie  Queene," 
which,  more  than  any  thing  else,  has  immortalized 
him.  The  peculiar  stanza  employed  was  his  own 
invention,  and  now  bears  his  name.  Lord  Byron 
has  employed  it  in  his  "Childe  Harold,"  with  the 
greatest  success.  Sir  Walter  Raleigh  visited  him 
when  he  had  finished  three  cantos,  and  the 
friends  spent  a  delightful  hour  together  in  reading 
and  commenting  upon  the  poem.  He  has  cele- 
brated both  Elizabeth  and  Raleigh  in  his  verse, 
giving  the  latter  the  style  of  ''Shepherd  of  the 
Ocean."  In  his  forty-first  year  he  married  the 
lady  whom  he  celebrates  under  the  name  of 
Elizabeth  in  that  magnificent  epithalamium,  which 
is  deemed  the  greatest  of  the  kind  in  English 
verse.  The  rebellion  of  Tyrone,  in  1598,  drove 
Spenser  and  his  family  from  Kilcolman,  and  so 


*  Pioneer  of  American  Colonization.       53 

hurried  was  their  flight  that  they  left  beliind 
their  infant  child.  The  mob  set  fire  to  the  house, 
and  the  babe  perished  in  the  flames,  with  all  the 
contents  of  the  house  which  they  did  not  choose 
to  pillage.  The  heart-broken  poet  escaped  to 
London,  where,  overcome  with  misfortune,  he 
soon  after  died.  He  was  buried  in  the  tomb  of 
Chaucer,  in  Westminster  Abbey.  His  wife  found 
refuge  with  her  two  sons,  living  in  another  part 
of  Ireland ;  and  after  the  rebellion  was  suppressed 
she  returned  to  Kilcolman.  In  1641  another  out- 
break sent  a  second  wave  of  desolation  over  the 
place.  She  fled,  to  return  no  more;  and  the 
place  fell  out  of  the  possession  of  the  family  until 
Cromwell  the  Protector  restored  it.  In  now  be- 
longs to  the  Earl  of  Clancarty. 

It  was  the  influence  of  Raleigh  that  induced 
Spenser  to  bring  out  the  three  cantos  of  the 
'  *  Faerie  Queene  "  before  more  were  written.  These 
were  published  in  1596,  but  only  fragments  have 
been  found  of  what  would  have  been  the  con- 
cluding six,  had  the  troubles  of  the  times  not 
driven  him  from  home  and  ended  his  life. 


54  Sir  Walter  Raleigh. 


dlikptef    VI. 

RALEIGH  ATTEMPTS  TO  COLONIZE  VIRGINIA. 

^  I  ''HE  bad  success  of  the  first  effort  for  colo- 
■^  nizing  America  of  Sir  Humphrey  Gilbert, 
with  whom  Raleigh  was  a  partner,  in  1579,  as 
related  in  Chapter  IV,  did  not  discourage  the 
devoted  brothers.  Raleigh  exerted  all  his  influ- 
ence with  Queen  Elizabeth  in  favor  of  renewing 
the  enterprise.  In  1583  five  ships  were  fitted  out 
at  great  expense,  and  set  sail  for  Plymouth  on  the 
nth  of  June.  The  queen  told  Sir  Humphrey 
that  *'she  wished  as  great  good-hap  and  safety  to 
his  ship  as  if  herself  were  there  in  person."  She 
gave  him  as  a  present  "an  anchor  guided  by  a 
lady,"  which  he  was  to  wear  on  his  breast,  and 
asked  him  to  leave  with  her  his  picture  as  a  keep- 
sake. Raleigh  did  not  himself  embark,  but  con- 
tributed two  thousand  pounds  to  equip  one  of  the 
ships,  which,  after  him,  was  named  The  Ark  Raleigh, 


Pioneer  of  American  Colonization.      55 
It   unfortunately  happened  to  this  ship   that  an 
infection  broke  out  among  the  crew  soon  after  she 
left  port,  and   she  was  obhged  to  put  back.     Sir 
Humplirey  saw  them  putting  back,  and  supposed 
that  they  had  treacherously  deserted  him,  but  he 
went  directly  on  with  the  remaining  four  ships. 
They  discovered  Newfoundland  early  in  August, 
and  Sir  Humphrey  took  ceremonial  possession  of 
>t  in  the  name  of  his  sovereign.     The  insane  pas- 
sion  for    gold    and   silver   and   precious    stones 
reigned  in  the  breasts  of  all  the  early  discoverers 
of  America;  and  in  this  instance  the  sailors,  hav- 
ing discovered  mica  in  a  hill,  took  it  for  silver 
and  went  to  work  to  load  one  of  the  ships  with 
the  precious  metal,  regardless  of  the  order  of  the 
commander  and  of  the  purpose  of  the  expedition 
to  settle  the  country.     One  of  the  ships  was  con- 
demned  as  useless,  and  with  the  three  that  were 
left  Sir  Humphrey  at  length  got  away,  and  pro- 
ceeded down   the   coast.      Off  Massachusetts   a 
storm  overtook  them,   and  the  ship  laden  with 
supposed  treasure  went  down,  carrying  with  her 
a  hundred  men.    This  determined  Gilbert  to  steer 


56  Sir  Walter  Raleigh. 

for  home.  But  be  was  destined  never  to  reach 
England.  A  storm  soon  ingulfed  the  vessel  in 
which  he  sailed.  At  midnight  the  two  ships 
came  within  hailing  distance,  and  Gilbert  shouted 
to  his  comrades  in  peril,  *'Be  of  good  cheer,  my 
friends;  we  are  as  near  to  heaven  by  sea  as  by 
land!"  The  other  ship  brought  to  England  the 
sad  tale  of  the  shipwreck  of  her  consort  and  the 
loss  of  all  on  board. 

Six  months  after  this  the  undaunted  Raleigh 
obtained  a  new  charter,  by  which  he  was  author- 
ized to  take  possession  of  and  colonize  such 
countries  as  were  not  already  possessed  by  other 
Christian  States;  and  to  repel  all  intruders  who 
might  approach  nearer  than  two  hundred  leagues, 
and  to  exercise  all  civil  and  military  rule  in  this 
settlement  for  six  years  thereafter,  provided  the 
laws  enacted  be  conformed  as  near  as  may  be  to 
the  statutes  of  England,  and  *'not  oppose  the 
Christian  faith." 

Under  this  charter  Raleigh  dispatched  two 
ships,  commanded  by  Philip  Amidas  and  Arthur 
Barlow.     In  July  they  came  in  sight  of  the  coast 


Pioneer  of  American  Colonization.       57 

of  North  Carolina,  and  landed  at  the  island  of 
Roanoke.  ''There  lieth,"  says  William  Strachey, 
an  historian  of  those  times,  "along  the  coast  a 
tract  of  islands  two  hundred  miles  in  length,  and 
between  the  islands  two  or  three  entrances. 
When  they  were  entered  between  them,  there 
appeared  an  inclosed  sea,  in  which  were  one 
hundred  islands  of  diverse  bigness,  whereof 
Roanoke  is  fifteen  or  sixteen  miles  long,  a  pleas- 
ant and  fertile  ground,  full  of  cedars,  sassafras, 
currants,  flax,  vines,  deer,  conies,  hares,  and  the 
tree  that  beareth  the  rind  of  black  cinnamon." 
There  the  company  were  entertained  by  the 
Indian  queen,  and  welcomed  to  the  country. 

But  these  captains  had  no  genius  for  coloniza- 
tion, and  after  exploring  the  coasts  of  Pamlico  and 
Albemarle  Sounds,  and  getting  such  an  impression 
of  the  country  as  would  make  a  basis  for  glowing 
rhetoric  on  their  return  to  England,  they  came 
away,  bringing  with  them  some  specimens  of 
skins,  **a  bracelet  of  pearls  as  big  as  pears,"  and 
two  of  the  native  Indians. 

Raleigh    seems    not    to    have    resented    this 


58  Sir  Walter  Raleigh. 

fruitless  expedition.  He  was  delighted  with  the 
account  of  the  beauty  and  richness  of  the  coun- 
try, and  sought  and  obtained  permission  to  honor 
the  queen  by  naming  it  ''Virginia."  On  a  new 
seal  of  his  arms  he  had  his  name  engraved  in 
Latin  as  "Lord  and  Governor  of  Virginia." 

The  idea  now  of  colonization  took  possession 
of  the  popular  mind  in  lieu  of  the  impractical 
notion  of  finding  a  north-west  passage,  and  Ra- 
leigh got  the  Parliament,  in  December  of  that  year, 
1584,  to  enlarge  his  charter.  And  now  large  num- 
bers, including  young  men  from  the  nobility,  enlist 
in  a  new  expedition.  Sir  Ralph  Lane  is  engaged 
by  Raleigh  to  be  governor  of  the  colony,  and 
Sir  Richard  Greenville  to  command  the  fleet  con- 
sisting of  seven  ships.  There  were  no  less  than 
one  hundred  householders  on  board,  and  such 
notable  men  as  Thomas  Hariot,  the  mathema- 
tician, and  Captain  Thomas  Cavendish  were  as- 
sociated with  them;  but  no  females  were  in  the 
company — a  fatal  lack  in  view  of  permanent  col- 
onization. When  near  the  coast  off  Cape  Fear, 
they  encountered  a  fearful  storm ;  but  they  weath- 


Pioneer  of  American  Colonization.       59 

ered  it,  and  arrived  safely  at  Roanoke  on  the 
26th  of  June.  With  a  portion  of  the  emigrants, 
consisting  of  one  hundred  and  ten  persons,  Lane 
commenced  the  work  of  forming  a  setdement, 
while  Greenville  made  explorations  along  the 
coast,  in  the  course  of  which,  in  the  piratical 
spirit  of  the  times,  he  seized  a  Spanish  treasure 
ship.  But  he  made  no  attempts  to  form  another 
settlement,  and  returned  to  England  with  his 
prize. 

Lane-  very  soon  came  into  collision  with  the 
natives  of  the  land.  He  set  fire  to  an  Indian 
to<vn  on  the  island  simply  to  retaliate  an  act  of 
theft  committed  by  some  of  the  inhabitants,  and 
by  such  measures  set  the  whole  native  population 
against  him.  Soon  after  he  was  lured  into  the 
depths  of  the  mainland  by  reports  of  gold  mines, 
and  came  near  being  captured  by  the  Indians. 
He  retaliated  by  entrapping  the  Indian  king  Win- 
gina  and  other  chiefs,  and  putting  them  to  death. 
Of  course,  the  country  was  roused  against  them, 
and  he  got  ready  to  quit  the  country.  Sir  Francis 
Drake  in  this  emergency  happened  to  be  passing 


6o  Sir  Walter  Raleigh. 

by  on  his  return  from  the  Pacific  coast,  and  took 
the  colonists  back  to  England,  where  they  arrived 
July  27,  1586.  Soon  after  a  supply  ship  arrived 
from  Sir  Walter  Raleigh,  and  two  weeks  after 
that  Sir  Richard  Greenville  himself  arrived  with 
a  fleet  of  three  ships,  laden  with  stores  of  all 
kinds,  and  re-enforcements  of  men.  He  was  sur- 
prised and  amazed  to  find  the  colony  gone ;  but 
he  left  fifteen  men  to  still  hold  possession,  and  re- 
turned to  England.  Was  ever  a  scheme  of  col- 
onization so  foolishly  managed?  The  settlement 
had  not  lasted  two  years. 

The  next  year,  1587,  saw  a  new  experiment 
commenced  by  Raleigh  under  better  auspices. 
Captain  John  White  was  appointed  governor,  with 
a  charter  of  municipal  government,  and  he  em- 
barked with  one  hundred  and  fifty  householders. 
The  government  was  styled,  **The  Governor  and 
Assistants  of  the  City  of  Raleigh  in  Virginia." 
They  avoided  the  dangers  of  Capes  Fear  and 
Hatteras,  and  landed  at  Roanoke  in  the  month 
of  July.  To  their  sorrow,  they  found  no  traces 
of  the  fifteen  colonists ;  but  they  commenced  their 


Pioneer  of  American  Colonization.       6i 

foundations  of  the  new  city  at  the  north  end  of 
the  same  island. 

The  old  story  of  war  with  the  natives  has  to 
be  told,  and  the  usual  results  followed.  Raleigh 
counseled  a  pacific  policy,  and  he  adopted  an 
expedient,  which,  whatever  effect  it  might  have 
on  aristocratic  Englishmen,  was  powerless  for 
good  in  Virginia.  He  got  Manito,  an  Indian 
chief,  made  a  peer  of  the  realm,  with  the  title  of 
Lord  of  Roanoke.  The  colonists  now  began  to 
begin  to  be  in  dread  of  want,  and  they  urged 
Governor  White  to  return  to  England  for  supplies. 
He  left  them,  and  they  perished  at  the  hands  of 
the  aborigines,  it  is  supposed,  for  no  account  has 
ever  been  given  of  their  fate.  It  is  worth  men- 
tioning that  the  first  child  of  English  parents  born 
in  America  was  born  August  i8th.  She  was 
named  Virginia  Dale.  This  was  the  end  of  Sir 
Walter's  costly  eiforts  to  colonize  Virginia.  He 
strove  to  reach  the  colony  by  two  supply  ships; 
but  they  were  seized  by  Spanish  cruisers,  and 
when  White  returned  in  1590,  under  the  direction 
of  a  London  society,  to  whom  Raleigh  sold  out 


62  Sir  Walter  Raleigh. 

his  proprietary  rights,  he  found  nothing  but  deso 
lation  where  the  city  of  Raleigh  was  to  have  been 
founded.  The  expense  to  Sir  Walter  of  all  these 
nine  expeditions  was  not  less,  it  is  reckoned,  than 
two  hundred  thousand  dollars.  But  his  name  is 
worthy  of  everlasting  honor  in  America,  and  the 
city  of  Raleigh,  in  North  Carolina,  though  on 
another  site,  will  ever  be  his  monument  to  pos- 
terity of  his  unparalleled  devotion  to  American 
colonization. 

Elizabeth  was  now  so  involved  in  the  war  with 
Spain  that  she  could  give  no  aid  to  colonization. 
The  terrible  Armada  was  coming,  and  the  fate  of 
the  nation  was  at  stake.  Nothing  more  was  done 
for  Virginia  during  her  reign.  It  remained  for 
Captain  John  Smith  to  take  up  the  work  where 
Raleigh  left  it,  and  after  great  hardships  and  re- 
verses to  get  the  first  plant  of  English  civilization 
to  take  root  at  Jamestown,  on  James  River,  named 
in  honor  of  Elizabeth's  successor  on  the  throne  of 
England.  The  words  of  Raleigh  came  true,  ''I 
shall  yet  live  to  see  it  an  English  nation." 

One  reminiscence  of  this  ill-fated  colony  is  the 


Pioneer  of  American  Colonization.       63 

tobacco  plant.  When  Lane  returned  with  Drake 
he  brought  specimens  of  it,  and  contributed  to  in- 
troduce the  custom  of  using  it  in  England,  as  it 
was  already  more  or  less  prevalent  in  Spain, 
]*ortugal  and  France.  Sir  Walter  Raleigh  was 
fond  of  it,  and  one  day  he  was  amusing  himself 
with  "drinking"  the  smoke  (that  is,  taking  it 
into  his  mouth,  and  letting  it  come  out  of  his 
nose  and  ears),  when  his  servant  came  in,  and, 
thinking  that  his  master  was  on  fire,  he  seized  a 
bucket  of  water,  and  dashed  it  on  his  head. 
Elizabeth  did  not  favor  its  use  by  her  example. 
One  day  she  made  a  wager  with  Raleigh  that  he 
could  not  ascertain  the  weight  of  the  smoke.  He 
won  the  bet  by  weighing  first  the  tobacco  used, 
and  then  weighing  the  ashes.  The  difference  was 
the  answer.  The  queen  laughed,  and  paid  the 
wager,  saying  "she  had  heard  of  those  who 
turned  their  gold  into  smoke,  but  had  never  be- 
fore seen  the  man  who  could  turn  smoke  into 
gold." 


64  Sir  Walter  Raleigh. 


dli^tef  YII. 

Raleigh's  relation  to  Ireland — potatoes  introduced 

into  ireland — ^war  with  spain — the 

armada — reprisals. 

IF  tobacco  was  a  damage  to  the  nation,  an- 
other plant,  the  gift  of  Virginia,  was  one  of 
the  greatest  blessings.  It  was  on  his  estate  in 
Munster  Sir  Walter  was  the  first  to  plant  the  po- 
tato in  Ireland.  We  have  seen  how,  after  the 
suppression  of  the  Irish  rebellion,  large  landed 
estates  were  bestowed  upon  Raleigh.  To  all  the 
concessions  the  crown  attached  the  requisition 
that  the  owner  should  re-people  the  estates  with 
loyal  people  from  England.  He  went  to  work 
with  zeal,  and  from  Devonshire  and  Somerset- 
shire brought  industrious  tenants,  and  soon  gained 
the  reputation  of  having  the  best  ordered  and 
best  cultivated  lands  in  Ireland.  But  property 
obtained  by  confiscation  was   destined  to  bring 


Pioneer  of  American  Colonization.       65 

trouble,  and  he  had  his  full  share.  It  would  be 
tedious  to  detail  these  troubles;  suffice  it  to  say 
that  he  grew  weary  of  them,  and  finally  sold  out 
nearly  all  his  interests  to  Richard  Boyle,  after- 
ward Earl  of  Cork.  There  remained  to  him  only 
one  castle,  which  for  her  jointure  was  occupied 
by  the  old  Countess  of  Desmond.  This  lady  lived 
to  be  an  hundred  and  forty  years  of  age,  and 
saw  nine  successive  reigns,  from  Edward  IV  to 
James  I. 

Raleigh  was  severe  in  his  views  of  policy  in 
the  government  of  the  Irish.  He  believed  in 
showing  no  quarter  to  rebels.  It  is  related  that 
a  Captain  Leigh  killed  a  noted  insurgent  named 
Feogh  Machugb,  in  fair  fight,  and  cut  off  his 
head,  and  sent  it  as  a  present  to  the  queen.  It 
was  sent  back  again,  by  the  same  messenger,  to 
be  thrown  among  the  carcasses  of  other  rebels ; 
and  the  error  was  pardoned  in  view  of  the  intent. 
Raleigh  advised  that  the  court  sliould  not  deal 
harshly  with  such  cases.  The  rebels  deserved  to 
have    a   price   put   upon  their  heads,  seeing  they 

"sought  the  lives  of  anointed  princes." 

5 


66  Sir  Walter  Raleigh. 

At  this  time,  1587,  Drake  was  upon  the  sea, 
destroying  the  commerce  of  Spain.  More  than 
one  hundred  vessels  of  all  kinds  were  sunk  by 
him  in  a  single  year.  He  wrote  to  Lord  Bur- 
leigh that  "there  never  was  heard  of  or  known 
so  great  preparations  as  the  King  of  Spain  hath 
and  daily  maketh  ready  for  the  invasion  of  Eng- 
land." Pope  Sextus  V  had  formed  a  powerful 
league  for  the  suppression  of  heresy,  and  the 
chief  in  this  conspiracy  was  Philip  of  Spain.  He 
had  a  large  army  in  the  Netherlands  under  the 
greatest  captain  of  the  age,  and  he  was  preparing 
the  greatest  fleet  that  ever  before  was  known  for 
die  invasion  of  England.  The  queen  was  fully 
apprised  of  'her  danger,  and  put  forth  all  her 
masculine  energies  to  arm  the  nation  for  defense, 
by  land  forces  and  fortifications  and  by  ships  of 
war.  Raleigh  took  an  active  part  in  these  prepa- 
rations. As  governor  of  Devon  and  Cornwall,  he 
organized  the  militia,  strengthened  the  fortifica- 
tions of  the  Isle  of  Portland,  and  contributed 
largely  to  the  arming  of  ships,  which  he  regarded 
as  the  best  defense  that  could  be  made. 


Pioneer  of  American  Colonization.       67 

The  commander  of  the  English  fleet  was  Lord 
Howard,  of  Eppingham,  who,  though  a  Roman 
Catholic,  had  the  confidence  of  the  whole  nation 
as  a  truly  loyal  man  and  an  able  admiral,  de- 
scended from  a  line  of  naval  heroes.  A  spy  at 
Madrid  gave  notice  of  the  sailing  of  the  Armada 
in  the  month  of  May,  1588.  This  took  the  min- 
istry by  surprise,  for  they  had  sent  word  to 
Howard  to  return  to  harbor  with  his  ships,  to 
save  expense.  He  was  of  a  different  opinion, 
and  protested  that  he  would  rather  have  the  ex- 
pense of  the  ships  charged  to  his  account.  Soon 
the  report  of  the  approach  of  the  formidable  fleet 
off  the  coast  showed  the  correctness  of  his  infor- 
mation and  judgment.  li:  consisted  of  a  hundred 
and  forty  sail  of  all  kinds,  from  galleys  to  the 
largest  frames  that  ever  floated,  carrying  in  all 
twenty-six  hundred  and  fifty  guns,  eight  thousand 
sailors,  twenty  thousand  soldiers,  and  two  thou- 
sand volunteers  of  distinguished  rank. 

As  they  entered  the  British  Channel,  Howard 
went  out  to  engage  them,  with  only  six  ships,  but 
was   soon  joined   by  others,   to   the    number   of 


68  Sir  Walter  Raleigh. 

thirty.  The  object  of  the  Spaniards  was  to  reach 
Calais  to  make  communication  with  the  Duke  of 
Parma,  and  to  take  aboard  his  army,  and  cross 
over  to  the  English  coast  and  effect  a  landing. 
They  were  pursued  and  annoyed  by  the  fast- 
sailing  English  ships,  and  lost  their  principal  ship 
and  many  galleons.  In  the  night,  after  coming 
to  anchor,  eight  fire-ships  were  sent  amongst 
them,  which  so  frightened  them  that  they  weighed 
anchor  and  moved  off.  In  their  disorder  they 
were  furiously  assailed  by  the  English  ships,  and 
numbers  of  them  sunk  or  captured.  At  length 
the  Spanish  commander  signaled  orders  to  return 
by  the  way  of  the  North  Sea.  So  poorly  were 
the  English  ships  supplied  with  ammunition,  that 
now  they  felt  that  they  were  unable  to  complete 
the  victory  by  further  pursuit.  At  this  juncture  a 
terrible  storm  arose,  and  the  flying  ships  were 
wrecked  at  sea,  or  driven  upon  the  coasts  of 
Scotland  and  Ireland  and  Norway,  and  not  half 
of  the  "Invincible  Armada"  escaped  to  tell  the 
fate  of  the  expedition. 

Sir  Walter  did  not  get  ready  to  join  the  English 


Pioneer  of  American  Colonization.       69 

fleet  until  the  second  day  of  the  engagement,  but 
he  was  one  of  the  last  to  give  up  the  pursuit  and 
leave  to  nature  the  finishing  of  the  terrible  retri- 
bution on  the  enemy. 

The  thousands  that  were  wrecked  on  the  coast 
of  Scotland  and  Ireland  were  taken  captive,  and 
sent  to  England  to  await  the  judgment  of  the 
queen.  Magnanimously  she  refused  to  order  them 
to  be  put  to  death,  and  sent  them  home  to  Spain, 
to  tell  the  tragic  story  in  the  ears  of  their  coun- 
trymen. 

In  token  of  the  Divine  Providence  which  had 
so  signally  defeated  the  diabolical  purpose  of  the 
Spaniards,  Queen  Elizabeth  had  medals  struck 
with  the  motto,  ^'  Afflavit  Deus  et  dissipantur.''' 
(God  breathed  on  them,  and  they  are  scattered.) 

Edward  Edwards  relates  that  Lord  Burleigh 
received  a  letter  from  Rome  stating  that  Cardinal 
Allen  was  overheard  saying  that  the  King  of  Spain 
had  given  *' great  charge  to  the  Duke  of  Modena, 
and  to  all  the  captains,  that  they  should  in  no 
wise  harm  the  person  of  the  queen ;  but  should 
as  speedily  ^s  might  be  give  order  for  the  con- 


70  Sir  Walter  Raleigh. 

veyance  of  her  person  to  Rome,  to  the  purpose 
that  His  Holiness  the  Pope  should  dispose  thereof 
in  such  sort  as  it  should  please  him!"  So  man 
proposes,  but  how  differently  God  disposes! 

Had  the  invasion  of  England  succeeded,  the 
history  of  Europe  and  America  would  have  been 
far  otherwise  than  we  now  read,  and  this  country 
would  be  a  Spanish  colony. 

The  defeat  of  the  Armada  left  the  English 
cruisers  at  liberty  to  rove  the  seas,  and  to  make 
reprisals  on  Spanish  commerce.  Sir  Walter  Ra- 
leigh had  three  ships,  the  Crown,  the  Garland, 
and  the  Revenge,  and  did  much  damage  to  the 
enemy;  and  not  always,  it  is  to  be  feared,  with 
such  regard  to  the  rights  of  neutrals  as  is  re- 
quired by  international  law.  **They  are  Span- 
iards in  disguise,"  was  his  answer  to  a  complaint 
of  this  kind,  made  against  one  of  his  captains  for 
seizing  a  ship  flying  Dutch  colors. 

Sir  Walter  took  part  also  in  the  expedition 
commanded  by  Drake  and  Norris,  to  aid  Don 
Antonio,  King  of  Portugal,  to  recover  his  crown, 
usurped    by  Philip    II.      This    enterprise   failed; 


Pioneer  of  American  Colonization.       71 

but  they  succeeded  in  making  a  prize  of  a  large 
fleet  of  sixty  ships,  laden  with  supplies  for  an- 
other Armada  which  was  to  be  fitted  out  against 
England. 


72  Sir  Walter  Raleigh. 


Cl^kptef    VIII. 

VISIT  TO  SPENSER—  PANAMA  SCHEME — FAVORS  TOLERA- 
TION— UD ALL  — THE  BROWNISTS  —  THE  JESUITS  —  RA- 
LEIGH'S MARRIAGE — DISGRACE  AT  COURT  AND  IM- 
PRISONMENT. 

FOR  some  unexplained  cause,  Raleigh  about 
this  time  lost  the  favor  of  Elizabeth,  and 
took  occasion  to  visit  Ireland,  and  to  spend  some 
time  with  his  friend,  the  poet  Spenser. 

On  his  return  to  court,  he  took  advantage  of  a 
temporary  suspension  of  hostilities  with  Spain  to 
plan  a  scheme  for  divesting  that  nation  of  some 
of  her  American  dominions  by  the  conquest  of 
Panama  and  other  regions  of  America.  For  this 
purpose  he  fitted  out,  at  great  expense,  thirteen 
vessels.  The  queen  added  two  ships  of  war,  and 
made  Raleigh  admiral  of  the  expedition. 

He  was  vexatiously  delayed  by  contrary  winds 
months  after  preparations  were  made;  and,  to 
crown  all,  when  he  had  fairly  got  started  he  was 


Pioneer  of  AiMerican  Colonization.       73 

overtaken  by  an  order  from  the  queen  to  resign 
the  command  to  Sir  Martin  Frobisher,  and  to  re- 
turn to  the  court.  What  was  precisely  the  queen's 
motive  for  this  is  not  known,  but  it  was  pretended 
that  she  wished  his  services  at  court. 

Sir  Walter  made  no  haste  to  obey,  but  kept 
on  with  his  fleet  until  he  had  made  such  investi- 
gations of  the  designs  and  warlike  preparations 
of  Spain  as  to  induce  him  to  change  the  whole 
plan  of  his  adventure.  He  gave  up  his  designs 
on  Panama,  and  divided  his  fleet  into  two  parts, 
one  for  cruising  after  the  rich  India  caracks  that 
were  expected,  and  the  other  to  hover  about  the 
coast  of  Spain,  to  engage  the  attention  of  the 
Spanish  home  fleet,  and  keep  them  from  coming 
out  to  protect  the  caracks. 

After  taking  a  valuable  prize  of  another  sort, 
they  fell  in  with  the  caracks,  and  one  of  them, 
the  Madre  de  Dios,  was  captured.  Another  was 
set  on  fire  by  her  own  crew.  The  prize  was 
taken  to  Dartmouth.  It  proved  to  be  possessed 
of  wealth  beyond  all  calculation,  and  produced 
the   greatest  excitement  all   over   England,   every 


74  Sir  Walter  Raleigh. 

body  trying  to  make  capital  out  of  it.  The  queen 
managed  to  get  the  lion's  share,  while  Raleigh 
had  less  than  his  due.  In  Spain  the  utmost  in- 
dignation was  felt  at  an  order  now  given  by 
Philip  II  to  all  his  adherents  to  blow  up  any  ship 
rather  than  to  let  it  be  taken  by  the  English 
cruisers. 

It  is  a  pleasure  at  this  time  to  contemplate 
Raleigh  as  a  courtier  favoring  toleration  in  re- 
ligion at  home.  Rev.  John  Udall,  of  the  estab- 
lished Church,  had  become  a  non-conformist,  and 
written  in  favor  of  Reform  in  ecclesiastical  polity. 
He  was  a  man  of  learning  and  eloquence.  The 
first  Hebrew  grammar  in  English  was  written  by 
him.  His  principal  work  on  Church  reform  was 
entitled,  "The  Demonstration  of  Discipline  which 
Christ  hath  Presented  in  his  Word  for  the  Gov- 
ernment of  the  Church  in  all  Times  and  Places 
until  the  World's  end."  For  publishing  this  work 
he  was  absurdly  charged  with  libel  on  the  queen's 
majesty,  and  was  brought  to  trial  in  fetters.  He 
was  condemned  on  written  depositions  against 
him,  no  personal  testimony  being  admitted,  and  no 


Pioneer  of  American  Colonization.       75 

written  defense  allowed  to  him.  He  was  sent  to 
prison,  and  remained  a  year  before  he  received 
sentence  of  death.  Raleigh's  attention  was  turned 
to  this  unhappy  case,  and  he  took  an  earnest  in- 
terest in  his  behalf.  He  got  word  to  Udall  to 
write  through  him  a  letter  to  the  queen  protesting 
his  loyalty  as  a  subject  of  the  realm.  He  did  so, 
praying  that  his  punishment  might  be  commuted 
to  banishment.  A  reprieve  was  granted,  and  it 
was  proposed  to  send  him  to  Guinea  on  condition 
that  he  should  be  kept  there  until  his  sentence 
was  revoked  by  the  queen.  Udall  objected  to 
this  condition,  and  while  the  subject  was  yet 
pending,  he  was  taken  ill,  and  died  in  prison. 

Raleigh  in  the  same  spirit  united  with  Essex  to 
resist  the  expatriation  of  the  Brownists.  Robert 
Brown  was  a  minister  of  the  Church  of  England; 
but  his  studies  in  theology  produced  in  his  ardent 
mind  a  deep  conviction  that  the  polity  of  the  es- 
tablished Church  was  anti-christian.  He  preached 
on  this  subject  in  Norwich  in  1581,  and  converted 
a  number  to  his  views,  and  for  this  was  arraigned 
before  the  ecclesiastical  commissioners,  who  con- 


76  Sir  Walter  Raleigh. 

demned  him  partly  for  his  heresies  and  partly 
for  his  rude  behavior,  and  sent  him  to  prison. 
Obtaining  release  in  a  short  time,  he  went  with 
certain  of  his  disciples  to  Zealand.  There  he 
wrote  a  book  entitled,  "A  Treatise  of  Reforma- 
tion without  Tarrying  for  any  Man."  In  1585 
he  was  back  again  in  England,  and  went  on 
with  his  work  of  reformation  until  he  was  ex- 
communicated by  the  Bishop  of  Peterborough. 
He  was  subsequently  made  obsequious  to  the  rule 
of  the  Church,  and  accepted  a  living  in  North- 
hamptonshire,  of  which  it  is  said  '^he  received 
the  emoluments  without  discharging  the  duties," 
His  opinions,  however  discussed,  made  him  un- 
popular; but  his  violence  of  manner  intensified 
his  troubles,  and  made  him  a  martyr.  He  boasted 
that  he  had  been  in  thirty-two  prisons,  and  finally, 
in  1630,  he  died  in  Northampton  jail,  where  lie 
was  imprisoned  for  ''assaulting  a  constable  and 
insulting  a  magistrate."  The  views  of  this  ex- 
traordinary man  were  shared  by  many  better 
people  than  himself,  and  a  sect  was  established 
in  the  north  of  England  called  Brownists,  among 


Pioneer  of  American  Colonization.       77 

whom  was  the  Rev.  John  Robinson,  and  the 
glorious  band,  who  fled  first  to  Holland  and 
afterward  to  Plymouth  in  Massachusetts — the  pil- 
grims of  the  Mayflower— ihQ  beginning  of  the 
noble  Church  of  American  Congregationalists. 

A  law  was  propounded  in  Parliament  against 
the  Brownists  and  other  schismatics,  which  drew 
out  the  eloquent  opposition  of  Raleigh.  The  law 
specified  that  "any  person  above  sixteen  years 
of  age  who  refused,  during  the  space  of  a  month, 
to  attend  public  worship,  should  be  committed  to 
prison ;  and  if  persisting  for  three  months  in  such 
determination  be  banished  the  realm  under  pain 
of  death  if  detected  in  returning^  Against  this  law 
Raleigh,  though  sharing  the  popular  prejudice 
against  heretics,  protested  as  unjust,  cruel,  and 
impolitic.  ''  In  my  conceit,"  he  said,  ''the  Brown- 
ists are  worthy  to  be  rooted  out  of  a  common- 
wealth; but  what  danger  may  grow  to  ourselves 
if  this  law  passed  were  fit  to  considered  ?  For  it 
is  to  be  feared  that  men  not  guilty  will  be  in- 
cluded in  it;  and  that  law  is  hard  that  taketh  life 
and    sendeth    into    banishment,    wlien    man's    in- 


78  Sir  Walter  Raleigh. 

tentions  shall  be  judged  by  a  jury,  and  the> 
shall  be  judges  of  what  another  means.  But  a 
law  which  is  against  a  fact  is  just;  and  punish 
the  fact  as  severely  as  you  will.  If  two  or  three 
thousand  Brownists  meet  at  the  sea,  at  whose 
charge  shall  they  be  transported?  and  where 
shall  they  be  sent  ?  I  am  sorry  for  it,  but  I  am 
afraid  that  there  are  near  twenty  thousand  of 
them  in  England;  and  when  they  are  gone,  who 
shall  maintain  their  wives  and  children."  This 
argument  shows  the  dawn  of  the  true  idea  of  re- 
ligious toleration,  which  Roger  Williams  first  fully 
developed  and  crystallized  into  public  law,  and 
which  is  now  the  glory  of  both  England  and 
America.  He  prevailed  so  far  as  to  have  the 
bill  committed  for  revision  to  a  committee,  of 
which  he  was  appointed  a  member. 

The  modifications  of  this  law  which  Raleigh 
secured  were  as  favorable  to  Roman  Catholics  as 
to  Protestant  dissenters;  but  on  account  of  his 
opposition  to  the  Jesuits  and  their  seminaries  he 
excited  the  wrath  of  one  Father  Parsons,  who 
was   chief   penitentiary   of  this   order   in    Rome, 


Pioneer  of  American  Colonization.       79 

and  was  sent  to  England  by  the  pope  to  establish 
his  order  there,  with  a  view  to  the  displacing  the 
Protestant  succession  to  the  crown.  This  man 
got  lip  a  cry  of  atheism  against  Raleigh,  and 
a  charge  of  planning  a  school  of  infidelity  in 
which  the  Bible  was  a  subject  of  ridicule.  His 
real  offense  was,  advising  Queen  Elizabeth  in 
council  to  issue  a  proclamation  against  the  Jesuit- 
ical establishment,  a  measure  which  has  saved 
England  from  their  machinations,  and  which  has 
been  again  and  again  imitated  by  the  govern- 
ments of  Catholic  nations. 

While  the  pope  held  a  temporal  scepter,  and 
assumed  to  be  chief  of  the  kings  of  the  earth, 
the  Jesuits  were  not  to  be  regarded  as  a  religious 
sect  merely,  but  as  principally  a  political  society, 
scheming  for  the  ascendancy  of  the  papal  power 
over  all  nations.  At  this  day,  though  the  pope 
has  lost  his  crown,  and  is  nothing  more  than 
chief  bishop  of  Roman  Catholics,  yet  he  still 
holds  his  claim  to  the  triple  crown,  and  his  emis- 
saries are  striving  to  restore  him  to  his  lost 
position.     It  is  right,  therefore,  that  they  should 


8o  Sir  Walter  Raleigh. 

be  treated   differently  from   strictly  religious  sec- 
tarians. 

We  come  now  to  a  scene  of  tragic  romance  in 
the  life  of  Raleigh,  which  was  to  affect  his  whole 
subsequent  life.  He  excites  the  deepest  displeas 
ure  of  the  queen  by  a  secret  marriage  with  Eliza- 
beth Throckmorton,  one  of  the  ladies  of  the  bed 
chamber.  Why  he  should  conceal  his  courtship 
and  marriage  from  the  queen  is  not  known,  though 
the  most  recent  and  authentic  biographies  ascribe 
it  to  her  jealousy  of  all  rivals  to  the  affection  she 
claimed  of  her  favorites.  Lord  Essex,  two  years 
before,  had  the  same  experience  by  his  secret 
marriage  with  Frances  Walsingham,  the  widow  of 
Sir  Philip  Sidney. 

Elizabeth  was  the  daughter  of  Sir  Nicholas 
Throckmorton,  a  man  of  superior  mind  and  cul- 
ture, descended  from  an  ancient  and  honorable 
family.  From  the  pictures  of  her,  which  have 
been  copied  from  originals,  she  appears  to  have 
possessed  surpassing  beauty  of  face  and  form, 
and  her  subsequent  life  shows  her  possessed  of 
mental  and  moral  traits  befitting  the  wife  of  such 


Pioneer  of  American  Colonization.       8i 

a  man  as  Sir  Walter  Raleigh.  She  was  eighteen 
years  his  junior,  and  she  survived  to  mourn  his 
tragic  death  nearly  as  many  years. 

The  queen  was  piqued  by  this  clandestine 
alliance,  and  immediately  dismissed  her  maid  of 
honor  from  her  court,  and  deprived  Sir  Walter  of 
his  office  as  gentleman  of  the  privy  chamber,  and 
ordered  his  imprisonment  in  the  Tower.  Some 
other  complaint,  probably  in  reference  to  his 
seizure  of  prizes,  may  have  been  connected  with 
this  harsh  treatment;  but  it  is  all  a  matter  of 
inference  and  conjecture,  as  no  account  of  it 
appears  in  State  records. 

Spenser's  *' Faerie  Queene "  is  supposed  to 
refer  to  this  affair,  and  to  make  disappointed  love 
the  real  cause  of  Elizabeth's  excessive  displeasure. 
Timias  attends  Belphoebe,  and  attracts  her  love. 
One  day  a  young  lady,  Amoret,  is  seized  in  a 
forest  by  a  wild  man  of  the  woods,  and  Timias 
comes  to  her  rescue.  A  battle  ensues  of  doubt- 
ful issue,  until  Belphoebe  is  seen  by  the  monster 
to  approach,   and  he  flees,   to  encounter  a  sharp 

arrow  from  her  bow,  and  dies.     Upon  coming  to 
6 


82  Sir  Walter  Raleigh. 

the  scene  of  the  conflict  she  finds  Timias  fondly 

striving    to    restore   Amoret    from   a   swoon    into 

which  she  was  fallen. 

"There  she  found  him,  by  that  new  lovely  mate, 
Who  lay  the  whiles  in  swoon  full  sadly  set, 
From  her  fair  eyes  wiping  the  dewy  wet. 

Which  softly  'stilled  :  and  kissing  them  atween, 
And  handling  soft  the  hurts  which  she  did  get ; 

For  of  that  carle  she  sorely  bruised  had  been  ; 
Which,  when  she  saw  with  sudden  glancing  eye. 

Her  noble  heart  with  sight  thereof  was  filled 
With  deep  disdain  and  great  indignity, 

That  in  her  wrath  she  thought  them  both  t'  have  thrilled 

With  that  self  arrow  which  the  carle  had  killed. 
Yet  held  her  wrathful  hand  from  vengeance  sore; 

But  drawing  nigh,  ere  he  her  well  beheld, 

*Is  this  thy  faith?'  she  said,  and  said  no  more. 
But  turned  her  face  and  fled  away  for  evermore." 

It  is  certain  that  Raleigh  had  more  or  less 
personal  attachment  to  the  queen,  and  deeply 
regretted  the  loss  of  her  friendship. 

An  amusing  story  is  told  of  an  outburst  of  his 
emotions  on  being  informed  that  the  queen  was 
about  coming  to  visit  Sir  George  Carew,  keeper 
of  the  Tower.  Seeing  the  royal  procession  ap- 
proaching in  gay  barges,  he  became  almost  frantic 


Pioneer  of  American  Colonization.       83 

with  passion  to  get  out  of  prison,  and  to  get  into 
a  boat  in  disguise,  and  see  the  queen.  Sir  George 
resisted  his  importunity,  and  swords  were  drawn, 
which  might  have  proved  fatal  to  one  or  both  of 
them,  had  not  Sir  Arthur  Gorges,  who  happened 
to  be  present,  interfered.  In  doing  it,  Sir  Ar- 
thur received  a  severe  cut  on  his  knuckles,  which 
arrested  tlieir  attention,  and  **they  stayed  the 
brawl,"  he  says,  "to  see  my  bloody  fingers.  I 
was  ready  to  break  with  laughing  to  see  the  two 
scramble  and  brawl  like  madmen,  until  I  saw 
the  iron  walking,  and  then  I  did  my  best  to  ap- 
pease the  fury.  As  yet  I  can  not  reconcile  them 
by  any  persuasion,  for  Sir  Walter  swears  that  he 
shall  hate  him  while  he  lives  for  so  restraining 
him  from  the  sight  of  his  mistress;  for  that  lie 
knows  not  (as  he  said)  whether  he  shall  see  her 
again  when  she  is  gone  the  progress."  This  ab- 
surd adulation  shows  how  Raleigh  wrought  on 
the  affections  of  a  maiden  queen,  and  made  it  an 
unpardonable  offense  to  love  and  marry  another. 
His  imprisonment  was  not  solitary.  He  had 
the   company   of  his   young   and   beautiful    wife. 


^4  Sir  Walter  Raleigh. 

whose  attachment  to  him  was  unbroken  through 
all  the  vicissitudes  of  his  eventful  life,  and  his 
many  friends  were  allowed  to  visit  him  without 
reserve.  He  was  called  out  for  a  time  to  attend 
to  the  apportionment  of  the  spoils  found  in  the 
Madre  de  Dios.  His  influence  with  the  sailors 
was  unbounded,  and  there  was  a  great  huzzaing 
when  he  came  among  them.  The  queen  ex- 
ceeded every  body  in  her  rapacity,  and  Raleigh, 
captive  as  he  was,  protested  against  it.  His  own 
expense  for  the  expedition  was  thirty -four  thou- 
sand pounds,  and  the  share  allowed  him  by  the 
government  was  only  thirty-six  thousand  pounds. 
The  envy  of  Lord  Burghley  was  partly  the  cause 
of  this  injustice.  This  was  the  man  that  Spenser 
describes  in  the  "Ruins  of  Time" — 

"O  grief  of  griefs  !     O  gall  of  the  hearts! 
To  see  that  virtue  should  despised  be 
Of  him  that  first  was  raised  for  virtuous  parts, 
And  now,  broad  spreading  like  an  aged  tree, 
Lets  none  shoot  up  that  nigh  him  planted  be.'* 

After  Raleigh's  release  from  the  Tower,  we 
find  him  cultivating  gardens  at  his  place  in  Sher- 
borne, Dorsetshire. 


Pioneer  of  American  Colonization.       85 


dl:\k|)tei^  IX. 

EXPEDITIONS  TO   GUIANA. 

/"^  UIANA,  as  now  known,  is  that  portion  of 
^^  South  America  lying  on  the  north-east  slope 
of  the  continent,  south  of  the  Orinoco  River,  and 
extending  as  far  as  the  Sierra  Acarai,  and  not 
to  the  Amazon  River,  as  formerly  marked  in  the 
geographies.  The  largest  part  of  it  is  possessed 
by  the  British,  Dutch,  and  French.  English  Gui- 
ana has  three  sections — Essequibo,  Demerara, 
and  Berbice.  The  region  on  the  coast  is  level, 
and  in  the  interior  mountainous.  The  valleys  are 
exceedingly  fertile,  and  the  hills  are  full  of  miner- 
als of  various  kinds;  but  it  has  no  gold  or  silver 
mines  of  any  value.  It  abounds  with  beasts  and 
birds  and  fishes  and  reptiles  similar  to  most  tropi- 
cal regions.  The  descendants  of  the  aborigines 
are  yet  numerous,  and  occupy  chiefly  the  remote 
interior.     There   is   also   a   race   of  negroes,  de- 


S6  Sir  Walter  Raleigh. 

scended  from  fugitive  slaves,  who  formerly  gave 
the  Dutch  settlement  much  trouble  by  their  in- 
cursions. 

Guiana,  in  the  days  of  Queen  Elizabeth,  was 
reported  to  be  the  realm  of  the  golden  city  of 
El  Dorado.  This  was  the  name  first  given  to  an 
imaginary  king,  who  was  said  to  powder  himself 
with  gold  dust,  and  then  go  and  wash  in  the 
rivers,  and  so  scatter  the  precious  spangles  all 
over  the  sands.  The  wildest  ideas  of  gold  mines 
and  banks  of  gold  obtained  among  European  ad- 
venturers, which  lured  them  from  home,  and  left 
them  to  disappointment.  Sir  Walter  Raleigh  was 
affected  by  these  dreams.  He  wrote  a  history  of 
Guiana,  in  which  he  says:  "  Many  years  since  he 
had  knowledge  by  relation  of  that  mighty,  rich, 
and  beautiful  empire  of  Guiana,  and  of  that  great 
and  golden  city  which  the  Spaniards  call  El 
Dorado  and  the  natives  Manoa."  He  first  sent 
forth,  in  1594,  two  pioneers,  Whiddon  and  Par- 
ker, who  brought  back  word  that  there  was  an 
El  Dorado  there,  but  it  was  six  hundred  miles  into 
the   interior.     They  were   specially  instructed  to 


Pioneer  of  American  Colonization.       87 

explore  the  Orinoco  River;  but  they  acquired 
but  little  information  in  regard  to  it.  However, 
encouraged  and  assisted  by  Sir  Robert  Cecil  and 
Lord  Howard,  Sir  Walter  went  forward  in  Jiis 
preparation  for  a  voyage  of  discovery  and  perhaps 
settlement.  He  fitted  out  a  fleet  of  five  vessels, 
with  all  sorts  of  provisions,  barges,  and  boats  for 
ascending  the  streams,  instruments  for  mining, 
and  arms  for  defense.  He  left  Plymouth  on  the 
9th  of  February,  1595,  and  in  about  six  or  seven 
weeks  he  reached  the  Island  of  Trinidad  off  tlie 
north  coast  of  South  America.  On  his  way  he 
captured  a  Spanish  vessel  laden  with  fire  arms, 
from  which  he  exacted  a  ransom,  and  also  a 
Flemish  ship,  from  which  he  took  twenty  butts 
of  wine. 

The  Spanish  governor  of  Trinidad  was  An- 
tonio de  Berreo.  This  man  had  maltreated  Whid- 
don,  and  imprisoned  some  of  his  crew,  and  he 
was  guilty  of  cruel  treatment  of  the  natives.  Sir 
Walter  directly  made  an  attack  upon  the  town  of 
St.  Joseph,  and  captured  it,  and  took  Berreo  pris- 
oner.    He  found  five   Indian  caciques  or  chiefs 


88  .       Sir  Walter  Raleigh. 

bound  to  a  single  chair,  on  whom  Berreo  had  in- 
flicted inquisitorial  tortures.  He  liberated  them, 
and  treated  them  with  the  utmost  kindness,  as 
he  did  all  the  natives  who  came  on  board  his 
ships.  Berreo,  who  had  made  a  voyage  up  the 
Orinoco,  he  spared,  and  made  him  useful  as  an 
informer  and  guide  in  his  expedition.  This  man 
liad  married  a  daughter  of  a  previous  discoverer 
on  condition  that  he  should  pursue  the  enterprise, 
and  he  related  to  Raleigh  all  that  he  knew  about 
the  country  of  Guiana,  and  much  probably  that 
he  did  not  know.  Among  other  marvels  he  said 
that  the  natives  presented  him  "with  ten  images 
of  fine  gold,  among  divers  other  plates  and  crois- 
sants, which  were  so  curiously  wrought,  as  he 
had  not  seen  the  like  either  in  Italy,  Spain,  or 
the  Low  Countries.  And  he  was  resolved  that 
when  they  came  to  the  hands  of  the  Spanish  king, 
to  whom  he  had  sent  tliem  by  his  camp-master, 
they  would  appear  very  admirable,  especially 
being  wrought  by  such  a  nation  as  had  no  iron 
instruments  nor  any  of  those  helps  which  our 
goldsmiths   have    to    work    withal."     Berreo    had 


Pioneer  of  American  Colonization.       89 

already  sent  his  lieutenant,  Domingo  de  Vera,  to 
Spain   to  interest  the  king  in   behalf  of  another 
exploration  and  conquest  of  Guiana.     This  man 
told    stories   about    the    country   and    the    natives 
of  the  most  mythical  and  extravagant  character, 
which  have  been  absurdly  accredited  to  Sir  Wal- 
ter   Raleigh,    because    he    recorded    them    as    he 
heard  them  in  his  ''History  of  Guiana."    De  Vera 
said  the  men  of  that  country  ''had  the  points  of 
their   shoulders   higher   than   the  crowns  of  tlieir 
heads.     They  had  many  eagles  of  gold   hanging 
on   their    breasts,    and   pearls    in   their   ears,    and 
when  they  danced  were  all  covered  with  gold." 
In  one  province,  he  affirms,  there  were  "so  many 
Indians  as  would  shadow  the   sun,  and  so  much 
gold   that   all    yonder   plain   will   not   contain   it. 
They  take  of  said  gold  in  dust,  and  anoint  them- 
selves   all   over  with   it  to  make  a  braver   show, 
and  to  the  end   that  gold  may  cover  them,  they 
anoint  their  bodies  with  stamped  herbs  of  a  glu- 
tinous substance."     These  tales  awakened  a  great 
enthusiasm  of  colonization  in  Spain,  and  full  two 
thousand  persons,  including  monks  and   priests, 


go  Sir  Walter  Raleigh. 

embarked  with  De  Vera  on  five  ships  to  take 
possession  of  the  real  El  Dorado.  This  expedi- 
tion was  on  its  way  while  De  Berreo  was  talking 
with  Sir  Walter;  and,  though  he  kept  assuring  him 
that  the  country  was  full  of  riches,  he  neverthe- 
less tried  to  persuade  him  that  it  was  too  hazard- 
ous for  the  English  to  attempt  its  possession. 
Among  other  tilings  of  interest  related  by  De 
Berreo  was  that  one  Martinez,  who  was  put 
ashore  and  deserted  by  his  comrades  for  neglect 
of  duty,  was  picked  up  by  the  Indians,  and  was 
actually  carried  to  Manoa,  the  capital  of  El  Do- 
rado. He  was  blindfolded  when  approaching  it, 
and  was  kept  from  seeing  any  of  the  surrounding 
country;  but  he  was  permitted  to  see  the  city 
when  inside  of  it,  and  was  brought,  after  travers- 
ing the  city  nearly  two  days,  to  the  palace  of  the 
emperor. 

Nothing  daunted,  Sir  Walter  left  his 'ships  at 
Los  Gallos,  having  put  a  hundred  persons  in  five 
small  barges,  with  a  month's  provisions  and  am- 
munition, and  crossed  the  bay  or  gulf  of  Paria 
to  the  mouth  of  the  river.     They  had  a  young 


Pioneer  of  American  Colonization.       91 

Indian  for  a  pilot;  but  when  they  got  into  the 
river,  they  found  such  a  multitude  of  branches 
that  it  seemed  a  perfect  ''labyrinth"  of  rivers 
and  islands,  and  they  would  have  hopelessly  lost 
their  way,  had  they  not  come  upon  a  canoe  with 
three  Indians,  one  of  whom  they  found  to  be  an 
experienced  pilot.  Their  voyage  was  full  of  dif- 
ficulty and  perils.  Twice  the  largest  of  the  barges 
run  aground,  and  they  were  advised  by  their  pilot 
to  leave  it,  and  use  only  the  smaller  boats.  Do- 
ing this,  and  passing  up  a  narrow  stream,  they 
emerged  into  an  open  country  twenty  miles 
in  length,  beautifully  diversified,  and  looking 
like  a  cultivated  land.  But  after  rowing  with 
great  toil  against  the  current  hundreds  of  miles, 
they  seemed  no  nearer  the  fabled  city.  They 
took  plenty  of  game  to  supply  them  with  meat, 
but  the  bread  began  to  be  exhausted.  At  length 
this  demand  was  met  by  meeting  several  canoes 
of  Indians  called  Arroacas,  who  supplied  them  with 
excellent  bread,  and  also  furnished  another  pilot. 
The  characteristic  sudden  flooding  of  tlie  rivers 
surprised  and  alarmed  them,  and  having  discov- 


92  Sir  Walter  Raleigh. 

ered,  as  they  thought,  several  gold  mines  which 
might  be  worked  with  profit,  they  would  have 
ended  their  voyage,  had  they  not  a  higher  end  in 
view  than  to  find  gold.  This  object  was  to  sur- 
vey the  country,  and  mark  it  for  an  English  col- 
ony. The  voyage  was  pursued  as  far  as  the 
mouth  of  the  River  Caroni,  and  near  the  Island 
of  Tortola.  There  he  was  visited  by  swarms  of 
the  Indians,  who  had  heard  of  the  difference  be- 
tween Englishmen  and  Spaniards,  and  of  the  kind 
treatment  of  the  natives  by  Sir  Walter.  Friendly 
trades  were  made,  of  fruits  and  victuals  of  various 
kinds,  for  such  trinkets  as  were  valuable  in  the 
eyes  of  savages.  Sir  Walter  entertained  the  old 
chief  of  this  region,  Topiawari,  with  tales  of 
England,  and  especially  of  the  wonderful  ruler, 
Queen  Elizabeth;  and  he  seems  to  be  impressed 
with  the  good  sense  and  information  possessed  by 
the  aged  monarch  of  the  woods. 

Had  Sir  Walter  accompanied  in  person  the 
various  expeditions  by  which  he  sought  in  vain 
to  colonize  Virginia,  I  can  not  help  thinking,  a 
different  fate  would   have   attended   them.     The 


Pioneer  of  American  Colonization.       93 

one  great  mistake  of  American  colonization  has 
been  cruelty  to  the  aborigines. 

While  halting  his  company  at  the  mouth  of  the 
Caroni,  he  sent  off  parties  to  hunt  for  minerals, 
while  he,  with  a  few  attendants,  went  by  land  to 
view  the  falls.  The  ascent  of  the  river  by  boats 
was  found  impossible  on  account  of  the  impetu- 
osity of  the  current.  "When  we  ran  to  the  tops 
of  the  first  hills  of  the  plains  adjoining  the  river," 
he  writes,  "we  beheld  this  wonderful  rush  of 
water  which  ran  down  the  Caroli  [now  spelled 
Caroni],  and  might  from  that  mountain  see  the 
river,  how  it  ran  in  those  parts  above  twenty 
miles  off;  and  there  appeared  some  ten  or  twelve 
other  falls  in  sight,  every  one  as  high  over  the 
other  as  a  church -tower;  which  fell  with  that 
fury  that  the  rebound  of  the  waters  made  it  seem 
as  if  it  had  been  covered  over  with  a  great 
shower  of  rain;  and  in  some  places  we  took  it, 
at  the  first,  for  a  smoke  that  had  risen  over  some 
great  town." 

The  explorers  for  gold  had  no  instruments  but 
their   daggers   to   dig   into   the  mines;    but   they 


94  Sir  Walter  Raleigh. 

brought  back  some  samples,  which  were  pro- 
nounced by  assayers  in  London  to  be  indicative 
of  valuable  placers. 

They  were  now  ready  to  return  to  their  ships. 
Bidding  adieu  to  their  new  friends,  with  a  promise 
to  return  some  day,  they  launched  upon  the  de- 
scending current,  and  made  such  rapid  progress 
that  in  a  few  days  they  came  to  the  mouth  of 
the  river. 

At  one  place  they  delayed  their  homeward 
voyage,  and  made  a  visit  to  a  town  called 
Winecoposa.  There  they  found  the  people  cele- 
brating a  feast  at  the  house  of  their  chief,  and 
''all  as  drunk  as  beggars;"  but  they  were  wel- 
comed to  partake  of  their  viands  and  liquor. 
Withdrawing  to  their  boats,  the  people  came  to 
them  from  all  parts  of  the  country  with  abundant 
supplies  of  fowls  and  other  provisions,  including 
"a  delicate  wine  of  pinao." 

As  they  approached  the  mouth  of  the  Orinoco 
it  was  greatly  swollen,  and  rough  with  surges. 
A  storm  set  in,  and  they  took  shelter  under  the 
land  with  the  small  boats;  but  the  galley  was  not 


Pioneer  of  American  Colonization.       95 

so  conveniently  harbored,  and  came  near  sinking, 
with  all  on  board.  Leaving  it  to  come  after,  Sir 
Walter  set  out,  as  soon  as  the  storm  lulled  a  little, 
in  his  barge,  and  made  for  Trinidad  and  his  ships 
at  Curiapan.  Great  was  their  joy  when  they  saw 
them  at  anchor  where  they  had  left  them.  The 
galley,  with  the  other^boats,  coming,  in  a  few 
days  they  set  sail  for  England,  and  arrived  there 
some  time  in  August,  1595. 

A  narrative  of  this  voyage  was  published  by 
Raleigh,  entitled  ''The  Discovery  of  Guiana," 
which,  with  some  colorings  and  exaggerations  of 
fancy,  has  been  verified  by  subsequent  explora- 
tions. In  this  he  mentions  that  the  old  chieftain, 
Topiawari,  urged  him  to  come  again,  and  advised 
him  in  that  case  to  make  a  league  witH  those 
tribes  at  variance  with  the  tribes  of  Inga,  other- 
wise he  might  share  the  fate  of  a  former  expedi- 
tion of  De  Berreo,  whose  followers  were  flanked 
by  those  border  Indians,  and  three  hundred  of 
them  killed.  ''The  borderers,  setting  the  long 
dry  grass  on  fire,  so  smothered  them  as  they  had 
no  breath  to  fight,  nor  could  discern  their  enemies 


96  Sir  Walter  Raleigh. 

for  the  great  smoke."  Two  of  his  company  were 
left  with  Topiawari  by  their  request,  Francis 
Sparrey,  a  trader,  and  Hugh  Goodwin,  a  youth 
who  was  ambitious  to  learn  the  hmguage  of  the 
natives.  Sparrey  was  exhorted  by  Raleigh  to  find 
the  great  city  of  Manoa;  but  he  fell  into  the 
hands  of  the  Spaniards,  and  was  sent  to  Spain, 
whence  he  escaped  to  England. 

In  his  second  expedition  to  Guiana  Sir  Walter 
found  Goodwin  at  Caliana,  in  1617,  and  obtained 
from  him  "  sl  great  store  of  bread."  He  had 
been  so  long  in  the  Indian  country  that  he  had 
almost  lost  his  native  language.  What  became 
of  him  afterward  is  not  quite  certain,  but  Oldys 
reported  that  "he  was  devoured  by  a  tiger."  On 
his  part*  Topiawari  gave  his  only  son  to  Raleigh, 
who  took  him  with  him  to  England. 

Raleigh  had  meditated  a  visit  to  his  colony  in 
Virginia  on  his  homeward  voyage,  but  the  tem- 
pestuous weather  prevented  the  execution  of  his 
design.  Having  commission  from  Queen  Eliza- 
beth to  do  all  the  damage  possible  to  her  enemies, 
the   Spanish,  he  stopped  at  Cumana,  St.  Mary's, 


Pioneer  of  American  Colonization.       97 

and  Rio  de  la  Hacha,  and  compelled  them  to 
furnish  supplies  for  his  fleet. 

He  had  scarcely  rested  at  home  before  he  set 
about  a  second  expedition  to  Guiana.  This  he 
intrusted  to  Captain  Keymis,  one  of  the  captains 
of  the  first  expedition.  On  his  arrival  he  found 
the  mouth  of  the  River  Caroni  in  possession  of  a 
party  of  Spaniards,  under  the  direction  of  De 
Berreo,  and  his  way  to  the  mines  effectually 
blocked.  But  he  went  on  exploring  the  country, 
beyond  the  range  of  Raleigh's  observations;  and 
returned  in  a  few  months,  with  valuable  addi- 
tions to  their  geographical  knowledge. 

Persisting  in  his  purpose  of  adding  Guiana  to 
the  English  possessions,  he  makes  a  further  appeal 
to  the  public,  in  a  pamphlet  entitled  ''Of  a 
Voyage  to  Guiana,"  on  the  ground  that  "by  this 
means  infinite  numbers  of  souls  may  be  brought 
from  their  idolatry,  bloody  sacrifices,  ignorance, 
and  incivility,  to  the  worshiping  aright  of  the 
true  God,  and  to  civil  conversation.  This  will 
stop  the  mouths  of  the  Roman  Catholics,  who 
boast  of  their  great  adventures  for  the  propagation 


98  Sir  Walter  Raleigh. 

of  the  Gospel ;  it  will  add  great  increase  of  honor 
to  the  memory  of  Her  Majesty's  name  upon  earth 
to  all  posterity;  and  in  the  end  be  rewarded  with 
an  excellent  starlight  splendency  in  the  heavens, 
which  is  reserved  for  them  that  turn  many  unto 
righteousness,  as  the  prophet  speaketh."  Not 
finding  any  support  from  government,  he  fits  out 
at  his  own  expense  another  small  ship,  under  the 
command  of  Captain  Leonard  Perry,  in  1596; 
and  in  1598  he  had  engaged  the  Duke  of  Finland 
to  join  him  with  twelve  ships  to  establish  a  colony 
in  Guiana;  but  by  some  means  not  now  known 
this  scheme  proved  abortive.  Nothing  more  was 
attempted  during  the  reign  of  Elizabeth. 

The  noble  conduct  of  Raleigh  in  these  enter- 
prises completely  restored  him  to  the  favor  of  the 
queen;  though  the  envy  and  ill-will  of  some  peo- 
ple were  thereby  excited  against  him. 


Pioneer  of  American  Colonization.       99 


dl}b,j)tef    X. 

NAVAL  EXPEDITION  AGAINST  CADIZ — THE   ISLAND'S    ENTER- 
PRISE— BREACH  WITH  ESSEX. 

T  N  1596  Lord  Admiral  Howard  revived  a 
-*-  Scheme  of  attacking  Cadiz,  first  suggested  by 
Sir  John  Hawkins  in  1587,  which  was  made  so 
effectual  that  in  the  sequel  it  was  more  advan- 
tageous to  England  than  the  destruction  of  the 
Armada.  At  first  it  was  embarrassed  by  the  hes- 
itation of  the  queen  as  to  whom  she  should  in- 
trust the  command.  At  length  her  personal 
favoritism  of  Essex  decided  in  his  favor.  Lord 
Admiral  Howard  was  made  second  in  command, 
and  Sir  Walter  Raleigh  and  Lord  Thomas  How- 
ard were  ranked  next  in  order.  The  fleet  num- 
bered one  hundred  and  twenty-one  ships,  includ- 
ing twenty-four  Dutch  ships,  besides  pinnaces  and 
barges,  and  was  divided  into  four  separate  squad- 
rons.    The  whole  number  of  sailors  and  soldiers 


I60  "Sir  Walter  Raleigh. 

was  sixteen  thousand.  The  principal  object  was 
the  destruction  of  the  Spanish  navy  and  the 
seizure  of  rich  merchant  ships,  rather  than  the 
taking  of  Cadiz.  This  agreed  with  the  judgment 
of  Sir  Walter  Raleigh.  Some  delay  was  made  by 
the  repugnance  of  the  soldiers  and  sailors  who 
were  pressed  into  the  service.  Desertions  took 
place  every  day,  until  some  of  them  were  tried 
by  martial  law  and  hung,  which  had  the  effect  to 
intimidate  the  rest  and  secure  subordination. 

Early  in  June  the  fleet  left  Plymouth  Sound, 
and  arrived  off  Cadiz  on  the  20th  of  this  month. 
The  harbor  was  defended  by  about  eighty  war- 
vessels,  including  twenty  galleys.  Essex  prepared 
to  land  the  soldiers,  and  immediately  attack  the 
fort;  but  a  council  of  war  was  objecting,  when 
Raleigh,  having  arrived  from  some  excursion, 
joined  in  the  objections,  and  it  was  finally  con- 
cluded to  attack  the  ships  of  war.  Raleigh  was 
ordered  to  lead  the  assault.  As  soon  as  day 
began  to  break  he  started  in  tlie  War  Spright, 
followed  by  the  ships  of  his  squadron.  Passing 
the  galleys,  which   he   regarded  but  as  "masks," 


Pioneer  of  American  Colonization.     loi 

he  made  directly  for  the  Philip  and  the  Andrew, 
the  leading  ships,  and  the  two  largest  in  the  Span- 
ish navy.  For  three  hours  he  battled  with  both 
of  them,  and  then  determined  to  board  the  Philip, 
and  end  the  fight  in  that  way.  But  the  order 
was  not  to  board  without  the  aid  of  the  flyboats, 
and  they  were  not  come.  At  that  moment  he 
saw  the  flag-ship  of  Essex  approaching,  and  fling- 
ing himself  into  a  skiff,  he  rowed  to  him,  and 
demanded  permission  to  board  at  once.  Essex 
tried  to  persuade  him  against  taking  so  great  a 
hazard,  but  finally  bade  him  do  as  he  would,  say- 
ing, **I  will  second  you,  upon  my  honor."  He 
returned  to  his  ship,  and  brought  her  into  position 
to  board,  when  the  Philip  drew  back,  and  ran 
aground.  Her  crew  sprang  into  the  sea,  and  she 
was  blown  up.  Sir  Walter  then  turned  to  engage 
other  ships,  and  succeeded  in  taking  two,  the 
St.  Andrew  and  St.  Matthew,  which  were  after- 
ward brought  to  England — the  only  ships  cap- 
tured that  were  not  destroyed.  The  whole  naval 
battle,  of  which  we  have  only  a  glimpse,  went  on 
in  the  same  fashion.     Sir  Walter  compared  it  to 


I02  Sir  Walter  Raleigh. 

*'hell  itself."  The  victory  of  the  English  was 
complete.  Thirteen  war  ships  and  seventeen  gal- 
leys were  taken  or  destroyed. 

Cadiz  is  built  upon  a  peninsula,  and  it  was 
now  the  first  object  of  the  English  to  prevent  all 
communication  with  the  mainland.  The  soldiers 
were  landed,  and,  headed  by  Essex,  made  an  as- 
sault upon  the  nearest  gate.  Raleigh  had  been 
wounded  in  the  naval  battle;  but  he  was  borne 
on  a  litter  into  the  fight,  and  was  one  of  the  first 
that  entered  into  the  captured  town.  With  the 
town  the  whole  of  the  merchant  ships  in  the  har- 
bor and  their  stores  fell.  An  offer  of  two  millions 
of  ducats  was  accepted  from  the  merchants  of 
Cadiz  and  Seville  as  ransom  for  the  India  fleet 
that  then  lay  at  Puerte  Real;  but  the  fleet  was 
set  on  fire  by  the  Duke  of  Medina.  One  hun- 
dred and  twenty  thousand  ducats  was  offered  for 
the  ransom  of  the  lives  of  the  combatants  in  the 
city,  and  fifty  persons  were  delivered  as  hostages 
for  its  payment;  but  the  money  not  being  paid, 
the  hostages  were  carried  prisoners  to  England. 
The  fortifications  of  Cadiz  and  much  of  the  town 


Pioneer  of  American  Colonization.     103 

was  rased  to  the  ground.  But  nobody  was  killed 
or  abused  after  the  surrender,  but  all  the  cap- 
tives were  carried  to  the  Port  of  St.  Mary. 

The  people  of  England  were  in  raptures  over 
this  great  victory,  and  many  a  home  was  made 
glad  by  the  return  of  friends  who  had  been  pris- 
oners of  war  and  slaves  in  the  Spanish  galleys. 
Great  quarreling  ensued  in  respect  to  the  spoils 
by  the  parties  concerned,  and  rumor  told  false- 
hood if  Queen  Elizabeth  was  not  the  most  grasp- 
ing of  all.  The  wife  of  Admiral  Howard  writes, 
"It  was  told  me  certainly  that  my  lord  should 
have  his  part,  five  thousand  pounds,  and  Sir 
Walter  Raleigh  three  thousand  pounds;  but  being 
at  court  yesterday,  I  heard  that  the  queen  claimed 
all,  and  my  Lord  of  Essex,  it  is  thought,  will  yield 
his  right  to  her  majesty.  My  lord  hath  spent 
already  twenty  thousand  pounds  in  the  queen's 
service." 

It  was  the  year  after  these  events  that  Raleigh 
was  reinstated  in  his  old  office  of  captain  of  the 
guard.  At  first  Essex  received  him  coldly,  but 
after   a   while    their    friendly   relations   were    re 


I04  Sir  Walter  Raleigh. 

sumed.  Cecil,  who  was  now  Secretary  of  State, 
had  contributed  to  the  restoration  of  Raleigh,  and 
an  endeavor  was  made  on  his  part  to  reconcile 
Essex  to  Cecil,  but  not  with  the  greatest  success. 
This  year  was  marked  by  another  expedition 
against  the  Spaniards.  It  was  rumored  that 
Philip  II  had  determined  on  creating  another 
Armada  more  invincible  than  the  former,  where- 
with to  assail  the  English.  Sir  Walter  Raleigh 
wrote  a  pamphlet  upon  the  subject,  in  which  he 
expresses  the  opinion  that  it  was  not  to  be  believed 
that  the  King  of  Spain  should  attempt  such  a  thing 
after  the  disasters  he  had  already  experienced; 
nevertheless  he  advised  that  the  nation  should  be 
prepared  for  any  event  by  suitable  defenses  along 
the  coast.  Moreover,  he  proposes  that  the  initia- 
tive should  be  taken  by  an  expedition  against  the 
Spanish  navy  and  commerce.  This  new  enter- 
prise was  called  the  Island's  Voyage,  as  it  re- 
sulted in  the  conquest  of  the  Azores.  It  was  at 
first  intended  to  equip  ten  ships,  and  place  them 
under  the  joint  command  of  Raleigh  and  Lord 
Thomas    Howard;    but   the   plan    was   afterward 


Pioneer  of  American  Colonization.     105 

much  enlarged,  and  three  squadrons  were  fitted 
out,  commanded  by  Essex  as  admiral,  with  Lord 
Thomas  Howard  as  vice-admiral,  and  Raleigh  as 
rear-admiral.  With  these  joined  a  Dutch  squadron 
of  twelve  ships,  commanded  by  Admiral  Van  der 
Woord.  This  great  fleet  put  out  to  sea  from  Ply- 
mouth Sound  on  the  loth  of  July,  1597,  but  was 
soon  overtaken  by  a  terrific  tempest,  which  came 
near  sinking  them  altogether,  and  so  disabled  sev- 
eral of  the  best  ships  that  they  were  all  obliged 
to  put  back  to  various  ports  for  repairs.  It  was 
afterward  concluded  to  leave  the  land  forces, 
and  rely  exclusively  upon  the  ships. 

The  17th  of  August  found  them  again  afloat, 
and  proceeding  to  the  coast  of  Spain.  Off  Cape 
Ortegal  they  encountered  another  terrible  gale 
blowing  directly  out  of  the  port  of  Ferrol.  A 
council  of  war  was  called,  and  it  was  agreed  to 
abandon  the  project  of  attacking  Ferrol  and 
Corunna,  and  proceed  to  the  Azores.  Sir  Wal- 
ter's ship  was  disabled,  and  he  could  not  keep 
up  with  the  movements  of  the  fleet ;  but  at  length 
he  joined  it  at  Flores,  one  of  the  Azores,  in  lati- 


io6  Sir  Walter  Raleigh. 

tude  36°  to  39°.  Essex  was  enraged  at  the  ab- 
sence of  Raleigh,  and  had  written  to  England, 
charging  him  with  treachery  and  desertion.  This 
he  frankly  and  regretfully  confessed  when  he 
found  his  mistake.  Subsequently  a  collision  took 
place  in  respect  to  the  assault  upon  Fayal.  The 
order  was  for  Raleigh  to  support  Essex;  but  it 
happened  that  Raleigh  arrived  three  days  before 
Essex,  and  waiting  all  that  time,  and  not  know- 
ing what  had  happened  to  the  admiral,  he  landed 
his  men,  and  captured  the  place.  When  chal- 
lenged for  breach  of  order,  he  defended  himself  by 
quoting  an  article  in  the  orders,  which  run:  *'No 
captain  of  any  ship  or  company,  if  he  be  severed 
from  the  fleet,  shall  wend  anywhere  without  di- 
rections from  the  general  or  some  other  principal 
commander^  upon  pain  of  death."  Lord  Thomas 
Howard  interposed  between  the  commanders, 
and  the  apology  was  accepted;  but  much  ill 
feeling  continued  to  exist  between  them,  fo- 
mented by  Sir  Christopher  Blount  and  other  in- 
fluential adherents  of  Essex,  who  were  unfriendly 
to  Raleigh. 


Pioneer  of  American  Colonization.     107 

To  persons  so  disposed,  envy  had  much  provo- 
cation in  the  matter  of  this  attack  on  Fayal,  for 
it  Avas  one  of  the  most  brilliant  exploits  of  Sir 
Walter.  While  waiting  for  Essex  in  the  harbor 
of  Hoctu,  the  chief  town  of  the  island,  Sir  Wal- 
ter sought  to  improve  the  time  to  take  in  water. 
While  about  this  business,  he  was  fired  upon  by 
the  garrison,  which  so  excited  his  sailors  that  they 
demanded  to  be  led  to  the  assault.  Taking  his 
ship  as  near  the  shore  as  was  convenient,  he  took 
two  hundred  and  fifty  men,  and  attempted  to 
land  them  in  barges  on  the  rock-bound  shore. 
The  Spanish  forces  lined  the  shore,  and  opened 
such  a  fire  upon  them  that  a  panic  seized  his 
men,  and  they  began  to  push  back,  when  Ra- 
leigh, shouting  to  them  to  follow  him,  shoved  his 
barge  forward  toward  a  narrow  passage  between 
the  rocks,  where  a  landing  was  practicable.  The 
retreating  sailors  rallied,  and  the  whole  force 
rushed  to  his  support;  and  being  joined  by  other 
barges  from  the  Netherland  squadron,  the  Spanish 
troops  retreated  into  the  woods,  and  left  the  town 
an  easy  prey  to   the  victors.     Sir   Gilly  Merrick 


io8  Sir  Walter  Raleigh. 

had  objected  to  the  stormmg  of  the  town,  and 
he  represented  that  it  was  done  to  deprive  the 
admiral  of  the  honor  of  the  exploit.  Besides  the 
taking  of  these  islands,  the  fleet  captured  eighteen 
Spanish  vessels,  including  several  very  rich  prizes. 
Raleigh's  squadron  fell  in  with  a  very  rich  carack, 
and  would  have  taken  it  as  a  prize ;  but  the  crew 
set  it  on  fire,  and  escaped  in  boats,  while  Raleigh 
in  vain  attempted  to  extinguish  the  flames.  A 
Spanish  squadron,  sent  forth  from  Ferrol,  was 
overtaken  by  a  storm  and  sunk.  So  Providence 
interfered  for  the  protection  of  England. 

"The  Islands'  Voyage"  would  have  been  a 
failure  but  for  the  part  which  Raleigh  took  in  it. 
His  reputation  was  enhanced  by  it,  and  he  be- 
came chief  among  the  counselors  of  the  queen 
in  her  relations  to  Spanish  affairs.  He  constantly 
advises  that  the  power  of  Spain  must  be  guarded 
against,  not  by  costly  bulwarks  on  the  English 
coast,  but  by  ships  of  war  and  naval  expeditions 
against  her  commerce,  her  extended  colonies,  and 
her  maritime  ports.  In  after  years  he  wrote,  ''If 
the  late  queen  would  have  believed  her  men  of 


Pioneer  of  American  Colonization.     109 

war  as  she  did  her  scribes,  we  had,  in  her  time, 
beaten  that  great  empire  to  pieces,  and  made 
their  kings  kings  of  figs  and  oranges  as  in  old 
times.  But  her  majesty  did  all  by  halves,  and  by 
petty  invasions  taught  the  Spaniard  how  to  defend 
himself,  and  to  see  his  OAvn  weakness,  which,  till 
our  attempts  taught  him,  was  hardly  known  to  him- 
self. Four  thousand  men  would  have  taken  from 
him  all  the  ports  of  his  Indies;  I  mean  all  his 
ports  by  which  his  treasure  doth  or  can  pass. 
He  is  more  hated  in  that  part  of  the  world  by 
the  sons  of  the  conquered  than  are  the  English 
by  the  Irish." 


no  Sir  Walter  Raleigh. 


6l(^tef  XI. 

RALEIGH  AND  HIS  COMPEERS  AT  COURT— REVOLT  AND 
EXECUTION  OF  ESSEX. 

T3  ALEIGH  and  Essex  were  now  much  together 
-*-  ^  in  the  court  and  councils  of  Queen  Elizabeth, 
and  though  they  never  were  affected  with  cordial 
friendship  for  each  other,  yet  they  harmonized  in 
conduct,  and  on  one  marked  occasion,  Raleigh 
was  of  much  service  to  the  Earl.  While  Essex 
was  prosecuting  the  Cadiz  expedition,  Robert 
Cecil  was  made  Secretary  of  State,  at  which 
Essex  took  offense,  especially  because  he  had 
recommended  for  that  office  Sir  Thomas  Bodley, 
the  founder  of  the  Bodleian  Library  at  Oxford 
University.  He  also  was  annoyed  and  humiliated 
by  the  bestowment  of  the  Earldom  of  Nottingham 
upon  Lord  Howard,  as  a  reward  for  his  services 
in  the  recent  naval  expeditions;  inasmuch  as  this 
elevation,  in  connection  with  his  office  of  lord 
high  admiral,  gave  him,  according  to  the  statutes, 


Pioneer  of  American  Colonization,     m 

the  precedence  over  Essex.  Raleigh  found  no 
way  to  adjust  this  delicate  matter  but  to  suggest 
to  the  queen  to  create  Essex  earl  marshal  of 
England.  This  she  did;  but  it  gave  offense  to 
Nottingham,  and  he  withdrew  for  a  time  from 
court  to  his  estate  in  Chelsea. 

All  this  time  it  seems  that  Essex  was  losing 
somewhat  the  favor  of  the  queen.  This  down- 
ward tendency  was  increased  'by  the  encourage- 
ment which  Essex  gave,  contrary  to  the  views  of 
the  queen,  to  the  marriage  of  the  Earl  of  South- 
ampton, one  of  her  courtiers,  to  Elizabeth  Vernon, 
which  resulted  in  his  dismissal  from  court  and 
confinement  for  a  time  in  the  "Fleet"  prison. 
He  afterward  gave  mortal  offense  to  the  queen, 
in  one  of  his  angry  moods,  by  contemptuous 
words  and  gestures.     This  she  never  forgave. 

She  was  annoyed  by  the  rivalry  of  Raleigh 
and  Essex.  This  was  displayed  in  an  extraor. 
dinary  and  even  ridiculous  manner,  at  a  tourna- 
ment given  in  honor  of  the  queen's  birthday. 
On  this  occasion  Raleigh  was  arrayed  in  a  suit 
of  armor  very  splendid  and  costly,  and  the  jewels 


112  Sir  Walter  Raleigh. 

be  wore  were  valued  at  a  quarter  of  a  million  of 
dollars.  He  had  a  numerous  retinue  prepared  for 
the  second  day's  tilt  arrayed  in  gorgeous  apparel, 
with  orange-colored  feathers  in  their  caps.  Essex, 
being  apprised  of  this,  appeared  in  a  suit  of 
orange-color,  followed  by  two  thousand  retainers 
adorned  with  orange-colored  feathers! 

The  affairs  of  Ireland  at  this  time  were  excit- 
ing great  solicitude,  and  a  leader  was  called  for 
who  should  be  able  to  subdue  the  rebellion  that 
was  rising  in  that  unhappy  country.  Raleigh  was 
the  man  to  whom  attention  was  first  turned,  but 
he  declined  altogether;  and  the  choice  wavered 
between  Earl  Essex  and  Charles  Blount,  now 
Lord  Mountjoy.  By  the  urgent  solicitation  of  the 
latter,  it  was  finally  settled  that  Essex  should  be 
made  Lord  Deputy.  He  exulted  in  his  success. 
*'I  have  beaten  Raleigh  and  Knollys  in  the 
council,"  he  exclaimed,  as  he  set  out  for  Ireland, 
"and  I  will  beat  Sir  Owen  in  the  field;  for 
nothing  worthy  of  Her  Majesty's  honor  has  yet 
been  achieved."  Alas!  this  Irish  expedition  was 
the  beginning  of  his  ruin. 


Pioneer  of  American  Colonization.     113 

O'Neil,  Earl  of  Tyrone,  instigated  by  the  pope 
and  the  King  of  Spain,  had  commenced  the  re- 
bellion with  a  formidable  body  of  troops,  and  to 
meet  and  subdue  him  was  the  first  object  to  be 
gained.  Essex,  however,  turned  aside  to  suppress 
an  outbreak  in  Munster,  and  was  so  far  disabled 
by  the  conflict  that  he  thought  it  prudent  not  to 
attack  Tyrone,  but  to  negotiate  with  him.  This 
transaction  was  denounced  at  court,  and  a  very 
sharp  altercation  by  letters  took  place,  which  in- 
duced him  to  quit  his  command  to  defend  him- 
self in  person. 

When  he  arrived  at  the  court,  without  chang- 
ing his  apparel,  he  rushed  into  the  queen's  bed- 
chamber, and  fell  down  on  his  knees  to  plead 
with  her.  But  his  case  was  submitted  to  a  coun- 
cil, and  resulted  in  his  being  deprived  of  his 
office,  and  all  other  public  positions  except  that 
of  master  of  the  horse. 

Soon  after  this  he  engaged  in  correspondence 

with  the  King  of  Scodand,  in  respect  of  procuring 

a   public   recognition   of  his  right  to  the  Enghsh 

crown    on   the   demise  of   Elizabeth.      He  corre- 
8 


114  Sir  Walter  Raleigh. 

sponded  also  with  Lord  Mountjoy,  now  Deputy 
of  Ireland,  to  induce  him  to  employ  the  troops 
under  his  command  to  enforce  this  measure. 
He  conspired,  furthermore,  to  seize  the  queen's 
person,  and  revolutionize  the  government. 

Finding  that  his  schemes  were  discovered  and 
exposed,  he  made  an  effort  to  incite  the  populace 
of  London  in  his  favor,  and  his  intention  was  by 
their  aid  to  make  his  way  to  the  presence  of  the 
queen.  Raleigh  sent  a  messenger  to  one  of  his 
old  friends,  Sir  Ferdinand  Gorges,  to  meet  him 
at  Durham  House.  Essex  was  consulted  about 
this,  and  he  advised  Gorges  to  go  by  water,  but 
not  to  land  at  the  Durham  House.  At  this  inter- 
view Sir  Walter  advised  him  of  his  danger,  and 
exhorted  him  to  go  at  once  to  his  post  as  gover- 
nor of  Plymouth.  Sir  Ferdinand  thanked  him 
for  his  advice,  but  stated  that  he  was  engaged 
another  way.  Upon  being  asked  what  he  meant 
he  said  **  there  were  two  thousand  gentlemen 
who  had  resolved  this  day  to  die,  or  live  free- 
men." Raleigh  expressed  surprise,  and  they 
parted. 


Pioneer  of  American  Colonization.     115 

To  Essex  the  queen  sent  a  deputation  of  four 
privy  councilors,  the  lord  keeper,  and  the  chief 
justice,  to  inquire  about  what  was  intended  by 
these  movements.  They  found  him  surrounded  by 
a  turbulent  crowd,  and  attended  by  several  nobles 
of  distinction,  and  other  gentlemen.  He  ordered 
the  commissioners  into  custody,  and  went  forth 
into  the  streets,  to  promote  in  person  the  rising 
of  the  populace.  To  his  dismay,  there  was  no 
indication  of  popular  sympathy,  when  word  came 
of  the  approach  of  a  strong  force  under  the  com- 
mand of  the  lord  admiral.  Turning  to  regain  his 
house,  he  found  his  way  barricaded,  and  was 
obliged  to  take  boats  and  come  by  the  river. 
He  set  about  fortifying  his  house ;  but  it  was  soon 
surrounded  by  the  queen's  troops,  and  at  mid- 
night he  was  induced  to  surrender,  and  was  taken 
to  Lambeth  Palace,  and  the  next  day  to  the 
Tower. 

He  was  soon  after  arraigned  at  Westminster 
Hall,  and  charged  with  treason.  The  sergeant- 
at-law,  Yelverton,  in  his  argument,  compared  him 
to  Catiline,  and  Coke,  the  attorney  of  the  crown, 


ii6  Sir  Walter  Raleigh. 

insinuated  that  he  aimed  to  become  king  of  Eng- 
land. Essex  protested  that  he  meant  no  more 
than  to  force  his  way  to  the  presence  of  the 
queen,  to  counteract  the  machinations  of  his  ene- 
mies. He  was  condemned  to  be  beheaded,  and 
in  seven  days  after  the  trial  this  sentence  was 
executed.  Raleigh  was  present  as  captain  of  the 
guard,  and  for  that  he  was  charged  by  his  ene- 
mies as  exulting  in  the  death  of  his  rival.  He 
subsequendy  protested  that,  so  far  from  rejoicing, 
he  "shed  tears  at  his  death,"  and  he  was  observed 
to  be  deeply  sad  as  he  returned  in  a  boat  from  the 
Tower.     Was  it  a  forecast  of  his  own  destiny  ? 

It  was  expected  that  the  queen  would  pardon 
Essex;  but,  though  she  was  terribly  affected  by 
his  sad  fate,  she  made  no  sign  of  interference. 
She  had  given  him  a  ring,  in  the  days  of  his 
prosperity,  with  the  promise  that  she  would  par- 
don any  offense,  if  he  presented  it  to  her.  This 
ring  was  in  the  possession  of  the  Countess  of 
Nottingham,  but  her  husband  forbade  her  return- 
ing it.  This,  on  her  death-bed,  she  confessed  to 
the  queen.     Elizabeth  turned  pale,  and  trembled 


Queen    Elizabeth  giving  a   Ring  to    Essex. 


Page  1 16 


Pioneer  of  American  Colonization.     117 

with  grief  and  indignation  at  this  confession,  and 
said  "God  might  forgive  her,  but  she  never 
could !" 

Sir  Christopher  Blount  was  tried  for  his  partic- 
ipation in  this  conspiracy,  and  was  condemned  to 
be  beheaded  on  the  scaffold.  He  inquired,  '*Is 
Sir  Walter  Raleigh~  here  ?"  When  Sir  Walter 
came  near  he  said:  "Sir  Walter  Raleigh,  I  thank 
God  that  you  are  present.  I  had  an  infinite  de- 
sire to  speak  with  you,  to  ask  your  forgiveness, 
ere  I  died.  But  for  the  harm  done  you,  and  for 
my  particular  ill  intent  toward  you,  I  beseech 
you  to  forgive  me."  Raleigh  replied,  "I  most 
willingly  forgive  you,  and  I  beseech  God  to  for- 
give you,  and  to  give  you  his  divine  comfort." 
Sir  Christopher  had  exhorted  Gorges  to  seize  the 
person  of  Raleigh  on  the  occasion  of  their  inter- 
view on  the  Thames;  and.  he  had  himself,  in  the 
streets  of  London,  shot  at  Raleigh  four  times, 
with  intent  to  kill  him. 

Essex  was  but  thirty-four  years  of  age  at  his 
death.  He  was  born,  according  to  the  astrol- 
ogers,   under   the    "disastrous    aspect    of    Mars 


ii8  Sir  Walter  Raleigh. 

sliining  adversely  upon  him,  in  the  eleventh  house 
of  heaven."  It  is  said  that  his  footman,  on  his 
death-bed,  warned  him  that  that  year  would  be  a 
fatal  one  to  him.  With  all  his  faults  he  had  a 
generous  heart,  and  was  a  friend  to  the  common 
people,  who  mourned  his  death. 


Pioneer  of  American  Colonization.     119 


Ci])kj)tef    XII. 

RALEIGH    GOVERNOR    OF    JERSEY— HIS    DOMESTIC    LIFE  — 
MEMBER  OF  PARLIAMENT — HIS  LITERARY  ASSOCIATES. 

T  T  was  in  1600  that  Raleigh  was  made  governor 
-■-  of  Jersey.  This  island  is  interesting  to  Amer- 
ican readers  as  having  given  its  name  to  one  of 
the  original  thirteen  United  States.  It  is  situated 
in  the  English  Channel,  the  largest  and  most 
southern  of  that  group  of  islands,  lying  about 
seventeen  miles  from  the  coast  of  France,  which 
belongs  to  Great  Britain.  It  is  twelve  miles  long, 
by  an  average  of  six  and  a  half  miles  broad.  Its 
climate  is  delightfully  mild  and  salubrious,  and 
its  soil  is  fertile,  especially  adapted  to  producing 
fruits  of  all  kinds  common  to  the  Temperate 
Zone.  Many  remains  of  Druid ical  antiquities  are 
found  there:  the  old  churches  are  mostly  of  the 
Gothic  style;  and  the  population  is  in  religion 
Roman    Catholic.      It    is    distant    from    England 


I20  Sir  Walter  Raleigh. 

seventy-five  miles.  Lady  Raleigh  writes  concern- 
ing her  husband's  first  visit  to  the  island:  "He 
was  two  days  and  two  nights  on  the  sea^  with 
contrary  winds,  notwithstanding  he  went  from 
Weymouth  with  so  fair  wind  and  weather  as  little 
Wat  and  myself  brought  him  on  board  the  ship. 
He  writeth  to  me  that  he  never  saw  a  pleasanter 
island;  but  protested  unfeignedly  that  it  was  not 
in  value  a  third  part  of  what  was  reported." 

With  characteristic  zeal  he  set  himself  to  work 
for  the  benefit  of  the  island.  He  commenced  a 
system  for  the  registration  of  the  real  estate, 
opened  a  profitable  trade  with  Newfoundland, 
abolished  the  co7-ps  de  garde,  an  oppressive  mili- 
tary service  imposed  on  the  people,  and,  as  judge 
in  civil  courts,  he  exerted  his  influence  to  abate 
the  litigation  to  which  the  people  of  these  peace- 
ful islands  seem  to  have  been  addicted. 

Sir  Walter's  home  in  England  was  now  at 
Sherborne,  in  Devonshire.  Having  failed  to  pur- 
chase  the  homestead  where  he  was  born,  he  ob- 
tained from  Queen  Ehzabeth  an  estate  which  a 
Norman  knight  bequeathed  to  the  See  of  Canter- 


PiONEKR  OF  American  Colonization.     121 

bury,  with  a  curse  upon  any  profane  person  who 
should  covet  it.  It  was  finally  passed  over  to 
the  Bishop  of  Salisbury,  who  ceded  it  to  Eliza- 
beth. When  Raleigh  went  to  see  the  place,  it  is 
related  as  a  bad  omen  that  his  horse  fell,  and 
brought  him  on  his  face  to  the  ground.  But 
little  did  he  care  for  such  prognostic.  He  sprang 
up  laughing,  addressed  his  half-brother  Gilbert, 
and  with  a  joke  turned  it  into  a  good  omen.  He 
ventured  to  make  the  place  an  elegant  and  happy 
home  for  his  family.  He  built  upon  it  a  house 
surpassing,  for  beauty  and  convenience,  all  the 
mansions  in  that  region.  Here  he  enjoyed,  when 
absent  from  Parliament  and  other  public  engage- 
ments, the  society  of  his  family,  and  the  visits 
of  his  numerous  literary  and  political  friends. 
He  was  fondly  attached  to  his  wife  and  children, 
kind  and  generous  to  his  servants,  and  abundant 
in  hospitality.  To  fix  his  estate  as  a  family  inher- 
itance, in  1602  he  settled  it  upon  his  eldest  son, 
Walter.  His  second  son,  Carew,  was  not  yet 
born.  We  shall  see  how  the  conveyance  of  his 
estate    was    eventually    made   void   by   a   clerical 


122  Sir  Walter  Rai.kigh. 

error  in  the  omission  of  a  few  words.  The 
principal  inconvenience  of  this  residence  was 
its  distance  from  London,  where  his  duties  at 
court  and  as  a  member  of  Parliament  required 
his  presence  much  of  the  time.  There  were  no 
railroads  in  those  days,  and  the  post-roads  were 
not  so  perfect  as  they  are  now. 

Sir  Walter  was  member  of  Parliament  for 
Devonshire  in  1585,  and  he  was  returned  for 
Cornwall  in  1601,  in  the  latter  part  of  the  reigr. 
of  Elizabeth.  His  brother-in-law,  Sir  Carew  Gil- 
bert, was  also  a  member.  He  exhibited  his  char- 
acteristic energy  and  industry  in  the  business  of 
committees,  and  in  the  debates  on  the  floor  of 
the  House  of  Commons.  He  distinguished  him- 
self by  his  successful  objection  to  the  act  to  pro- 
mote the  culture  of  hemp.  On  this  occasion  he 
said:  "  I  do  not  like  this  constraining  of  men  to 
manure  the  ground  as  one  wills;  but  rather  let 
every  man  use  his  ground  for  that  which  it  is 
most  fit  for,  and  therein  use  his  own  discretion. 
For  when  the  law  provides  that  every  man  must 
plow  the  third  of  his  land,  I  know  divers  poor 


Pioneer  of  American  Colonization.     123 

people  have  done  so  to  avoid  the  penalty  of  the 
statute  when  their  abilities  have  been  so  poor  that 
they  have  not  been  able  to  buy  seed  corn  to  sow 
It;    nay,   they   have    been   fain    to   hire   others  to 
plow  it,  which,   if  it  had  been  unplowed,  would 
have  been  good  pasture  for  beasts,  or  might  have 
been  converted  to  still  other  uses."     In   1593,  he 
took  part  in  the  debate  on  subsidies.     "  On  that  oc- 
casion,'' says  Edwards,  "he  entered  into  an  elabo- 
rate review  of  the  power  and  resources  of  Spain ; 
showed   that   those   resources    extended    virtually 
over  Northern  as  well  as  Southern  Europe;  that 
in    France   Philip  had  effectual  command   of  im- 
portant towns  and  havens;  and  that  even  in  Scot- 
land he  had  '  so  corrupted  the  nobility '  that  some 
of  them  had  agreed  to  work  with  Spanish  forces 
for  the  re-establishment  of  Papistry.      '  In  his  own 
country,'  continued  Sir  Walter,   'there  is  all  pos- 
sible  preparation,   and   he    is   coming   with    sixty 
galleons,   beside   other  shipping,   with  purpose  to 
annoy    us.     If  he   invade   us,   we  must  have   no 
ships  riding  at  anchor.     All  will  be  little  enough 
to  withstand  him.     At  his  coming  he  fully  resolv- 


124  Sir  Walter  Raleigh. 

eth  to  get  Plymouth,  .  .  .  and  Plymouth  is 
in  most  danger.'  And  then  he  goes  on  to  con- 
tend, as  he  always  contended,  that  the  way  to  de- 
feat Philip  was  not  to  wait  for  him.  '  Let  us  send 
a  royal  army  to  supplant  him  in  Brittany,  and  to 
possess  ourselves  there,  and  send  also  a  strong 
navy  to  sea,  and  to  lie  with  it  upon  the  cape  and 
such  places  as  his  ships  bring  his  riches  to,  tliat 
they  may  set  upon  all  that  come.  This  we  are 
able  to  do,  and  we  shall  undoubtedly  have  for- 
tunate success  if  we  undertake  it.'" 

It  was  such  forcast  as  this  speech  indicates 
which  had  before  prepared  the  nation  to  meet 
the  invincible  Armada  when  it  came,  and,  by 
the  co-operation  of  nature  in  her  hurricane  and 
storm,  to  sweep  it  to  destruction. 

On  the  subject  of  monopolies,  by  which  it  was 
costomary  to  reward  public  services.  Sir  Walter 
made  a  profound  sensation  by  declaring  his  will- 
ingness to  resign  his  patent  on  the  tin  mines  if 
there  should  be  a  general  repeal  of  licenses.  One 
who  was  present  when  his  speech  was  delivered, 
remarked  that   "there  was   a  great  silence   after 


Pioneer  of  American  Colonization.     125 

it."  The  idea  was  adopted  by  Elizabeth,  and 
she  made  her  reign  popular  by  the  abolition  of 
the  most  oppressive  of  these  monopolies.  Herein 
free  trade,  the  glory  and  prosperity  of  England, 
began  to  dawn  on  the  councils  of  the  State. 

Raleigh  had  doubts  as  to  the  matter  of  his 
own  monopoly  in  the  tin  mines  being  any  disad- 
vantage on  the  whole,  particularly  because  under 
his  management  the  workmen  were  well  paid,  and 
regarded  him  with  much  affection..  *'Now  I  tell 
you,"  he  said  in  the  debate,  ^'tliat  before  the 
granting  of  my  patent,  whether  tin  were  but 
seventeen  shillings  and  so  up  to  fifty  shillings  a 
hundred,  yet  the  poor  workman  never  had  but 
two  shillings  a  week,  finding  himself.  But  since 
my  patent,  whosoever  will  work,  be  tin  at  what 
price  sold,  they  have  four  shillings  a  week,  truly 
paid.  Notwithstanding,  if  all  others  be  repealed, 
I  will  give  my  consent  as  freely  to  the  canceling 
of  this  as  any  member  of  this  House."  The 
question  of  free  trade  in  this  country  has  been  in 
debate  from  the  beginning,  and  until  lately  it 
made    a    chief    distinction    between    the    leading 


126  Sir  Walter  Raleigh. 

political  parties.  The  necessity  of  a  vast  revenue 
to  pay  the  war  debt  has  made  large  duties  on 
imports  inevitable,  and  the  economical  question 
is  practically  laid  on  the  shelf. 

As  lieutenant  of  Cornwall,  Raleigh  devoted 
himself  to  the  welfare  of  the  county,  and  espe- 
cially of  the  common  people.  He  resisted  success- 
fully an  attempt  of  some  politicians  to  get  an  old 
tax  on  the  curing  of  fish  restored;  he  also  suc- 
ceeded in  getting  the  tax  upon  tin  considerably 
reduced.  "Your  ears  and  mouth  have  ever 
been  open  to  hear  and  deliver  our  grievances," 
wrote  Richard  Carew  in  his  Survey  of  Cornwall, 
"and  your  feet  and  hands  ready  to  go  and  work 
their  redress;  and  that  not  only  as  a  magistrate 
of  yourself,  but  also  very  often  as  a  suitor  and 
solicitor  to  others  of  the  highest  place."  Un- 
popular as  he  was  with  the  politicians,  and  often- 
times exciting  the  ill  will  of  the  London  populace, 
and  especially  the  party  of  Essex,  Raleigh  was 
admired  and  loved  by  his  own  neighbors,  and  by 
the  soldiers  and  sailors  who  served  under  him. 
While  residing  on  his  estates,  he  devoted  much 


Pioneer  of  American  Colonization.      127 

leisure  time  to  antiquarian  researches,  and  to  min- 
eralogical  observations  and  studies.  His  mind 
was  ever  active,  and  his  tongue  and  pen  and 
hands  were  unceasingly  active. 

He  was  a  member  of  the  antiquarian  society 
formed  under  Archbishop  Parker  in  1572.  He 
instituted  a  club  of  literary  men  in  London,  who 
held  their  meetings  at  a  tavern  called  the  Mermaid, 
in  Friday  Street.  It  was  composed  of  such  men 
as  Shakespeare,  Beaumont,  Fletcher,  Ben  Jonson, 
Selden,  Cotton,  Carew,  Martin,  Donne,  and  oth- 
ers, whose  names  are  yet  stars  in  the  horizon  of 
letters.  ''Many,"  says  Fuller,  ''were  the  wit 
combats  between  Ben  Jonson  and  Shakespeare. 
I  beheld  them  like  a  Spanish  great  galleon  and  an 
English  man-of-war.  Master  Jonson,  like  the 
former,  was  built  far  higher  in  learning,  solid, 
but  slow  in  his  performances.  Shakespeare,  like 
the  latter,  lesser  in  bulk,  but  lighter  in  sailing, 
could  turn  with  all  tides,  tack  about,  and  take 
advantage  of  all  winds  by  the  quickness  of  his 
wit  and  invention." 


128  Sir  Walter  Raleigh. 


C!l\kj)tef  XIII. 


DEATH  OF  ELIZABETH — ACCESSION  OF  JAMES — HIS  CHAR- 
ACTER AND  WORKS — RALEIGH'S  DISGRACE  AT  COURT — 
CHARGED  WITH  CONSPIRACY— IMPRISONMENT  IN  THE 
TOWER. 

QUEEN  Elizabeth  died  on  24th  day  of  March, 
^,^^  1602,  in  the  seventieth  year  of  her  age,  and 
the  forty-fifth  of  her  reign.  The  death  of  Essex 
made  a  melancholy  impression  upon  her  mind, 
wliich  she  could  not  throw  off,  and  which,  to- 
gether with  State  cares — the  discussions  about 
the  succession — affected  her  health  and  hastened 
her  end.  Having  a  good  constitution  and  the 
most  temperate  habits,  she  disdained  the  use  of 
medicine.  Feeling  that  her  days  were  numbered, 
she  devoted  herself  to  religious  meditations  and 
exercises.  That  she  might  enjoy  these  without  so 
much  molestation,  she  left  Westminster,  ani  re- 
paired to  Richmond.  She  had  the  attendance 
and    ministrations    of  the    Archbishop  of  Canter- 


Pioneer  of  American  Colonization.     129 

bury,  and  to  him  she  communicated  her  inmost 
feelings  in  regard  to  her  rehitions  to  the  eternal 
life,  and  to  her  successor  on  the  throne.  Vexed 
by  the  intrigues  which  she  saw  going  on  around 
her,  she  kept  silence  in  regard  to  her  decision  in 
respect  to  the  succession  until  the  last  hours  of 
her  life,  when  she  declared  to  Lord  Howard,  of 
Effingham,  her  faithful  friend,  "that  her  tlirone 
had  been  the  throne  of  kings,  and  that  her  kins- 
man, the  King  of  Scots,  should  succeed  her.*' 
After  this  she  abandoned  herself  to  prayer,  that 
her  mind  might  be,  as  she  expressed  it,  "wholly 
fixed  on  God."  Thus  died  the  maiden  queen, 
than  whom  no  greater  ruler  ever  occupied  the 
throne  of  England. 

While  before  the  death  of  Elizabeth  the  ques- 
tion of  succession  was  under  discussion,  Raleigh 
and  Cecil  took  opposite  views.  Raleigh  was  op- 
posed to  the  King  of  Scotland,  and  preferred  the 
claims  of  Arabella  Stuart,  who  was  the  fourth  in 
descent  from  Henry  VII.  Her  father,  the  Earl 
of  Lenox,  was  the  grandson  of  Margaret  Tudor, 
vho  was  the  daughter  of  Henry  VII.  She  was 
9 


130  Sir  Walter  Raleigh. 

born  in  England,  and  was,  like  James,  a  Protest- 
ant. Elizabeth  at  first  seemed  to  be  friendly  to 
Arabella,  and  instructed  her  embassador  to  pro- 
pose her  marriage  with  James,  and  end  the  ques- 
tion ;  but  afterward,  for  some  reason  unexplained, 
she  turned  against  Arabella,  and  her  opposition 
was  intensified  by  that  lady's  projected  marriage 
to  William  Seymour,  afterward  Duke  of  Somerset, 
who  also  was  a  descendant  of  Henry  VII.  When 
James  was  acknowledged  to  be  the  rightful  heir 
to  the  crown,  and  came  to  London  to  establish 
his  court,  he  regarded  the  friends  of  Arabella 
with  jealousy,  and  was  particularly  evil-disposed 
toward  Sir  Walter  Raleigh.  He  suspected  him  to 
be  the  author  of  certain  pamphlets  in  opposition 
to  his  claims,  and  to  have  been  concerned  in  the 
condemnation  and  execution  of  his  friend,  the 
unfortunate  Earl  of  Essex.  Cecil  seems  to  have 
encouraged  this  disposition  in  James,  and  to  stand 
altogether  in  his  light  as  he  approached  the  new 
monarch  for  the  usual  congratulations  and  wel- 
comes expected  of  courtiers.  On  their  first  inter- 
view, James,   in    the    broadest    Northern    dialect, 


Pioneer  of  American  Colonization.     131 

returned  his  salutation  with  a  poor  grace,  "On 
my  soul,  mon,  I  have  heard  Rawly  of  thee." 
He  accepted  the  presents  of  Raleigh ;  but  his 
timidity  and  love  of  peace  was  unpleasantly  af- 
fected by  Raleigh's  bold  and  generous,  but  ill- 
advised,  offer  to  support,  at  his  own  expense,  a 
force  of  two  thousand  men  to  invade  the  territo- 
ries of  Spain.  This  offer  was  the  key-note,  as  we 
shall  see,  of  a  disastrous  tenor  of  events,  that 
brouglit  the  brave  knight  to  an  untimely  and 
cruel  end. 

James  I  of  England  and  VI  of  Scotland  was 
the  son  of  the  beautiful  but  unfortunate  Mary, 
Queen  of  Scotland.  His  father  was  Henry  Stuart, 
Lord  Darnley,  the  cousin  and  husband  of  Mary, 
with  whom  she  was,  at  the  time  of  James's  birth, 
at  variance,  having  fixed  her  affection  on  the  Earl 
of  Both  well.  The  assassination  of  Darnley  fol- 
lowed, and  Bothwell  was  suspected  of  being  the 
instigator  of  the  deed;  nevertheless  the  impru- 
dent queen  married  him.  The  result  was  a  re- 
bellion against  the  authority  of  the  queen,  which 
drove  Bothwell  into  exile  in  Denmark,  and  Mary 


132  Sir  Walter  Raleigh. 

to  imprisonment  in  the  Castle  of  Loch  Leven. 
She  escaped ;  a  battle  ensued  at  Langside ;  her 
army  was  defeated;  she  fled  to  England;  was 
kept  a  prisoner  eighteen  years  by  Elizabeth,  at 
the  end  of  which  she  was  charged  with  conspir- 
acy against  the  crown;  was  tried,  condemned, 
and  beheaded,  February  8,  1587. 

James  was  crowned  King  of  Scodand  while 
yet  an  infant,  and  was  kept  in  Stirling  Castle, 
under  the  regency  of  the  Earl  of  Mar.  His  tutor 
was  the  celebrated  Buchanan,  and  he  proved  a 
diligent  scholar  in  the  learning  of  the  times.  He 
early  imbibed  inflated  notions  of  royal  supremacy; 
and  by  his  arrogance  he  set  his  nobles  against 
him,  and  a  party  took  possession  of  his  person, 
and  confined  him  in  Ruthven  Castle.  A  counter 
revolution  soon  effected  his  liberation,  and  he  was 
placed  under  the  tutorship  of  his  favorite,  the 
unprincipled  Earl  of  Arran.  He  showed  little 
sympathy  for  his  unhappy  mother  until  her  life 
was  in  danger,  when  he  protested  against  the 
course  Elizabeth  was  pursuing,  and  appealed  to 
other  courts  of  Europe  for  interference.     At  her 


Pioneer  of  American  Colonization.     133 

death  his  nobles  were  ready  to  make  war  on  the 
English  nation,  but  the  poverty  of  his  resources 
prevented  it.  When  Philip  II  threatened  the  inva- 
sion of  England,  liis  decided  and  ardent  Protest- 
antism prompted  him  to  forego  personal  animosity 
and  to  offer  his  assistance  to  repel  the  invasion. 

He  was  thirty-seven  years  of  age  when  the 
death  of  Elizabeth  in  1603  opened  his  way,  by 
hereditary  claim,  to  the  crown  of  England.  His 
progress  to  London  was  cheered  by  the  popular 
acclamations,  and  he  distributed  the  honors  and 
titles  at  his  disposal  with  the  greatest  profusion 
on  Englishmen  and  Scotchmen. 

It  is  said  that  his  timidity  was  such  that,  when 
he  laid  his  sword  on  the  shoulder  of  the  new- 
made  knight,  he  averted  his  eyes.  He  liad  also 
a  habit  of  rolling  his  eyes  after  any  person  who 
was  introduced  to  him,  which  was  very  embar- 
rassing to  strangers. 

He  held  a  conference  at  Hampton  Court  be- 
tween the  Puritans  and  the  divines  of  the  English 
Church,  in  which  he  displayed  a  bitter  hostility 
to   innovations  on    the   established    order   of  the 


134  Sir  Walter  Raleigh. 

Church,  and  to  all  kinds  of  non-conformity.  He 
did  not  pursue  the  non-conformist  with  the  sword 
and  fagot,  as  in  the  previous  reign;  but  he  ex- 
pelled the  Puritans  from  their  offices  in  the 
Church,  and  in  1604  no  less  than  three  hundred 
pastors  were  silenced,  imprisoned,  or  banished. 
As  to  the  Catholics,  he  disappointed  their  expec- 
tations of  royal  favor;  and  their  despair  of  gain- 
ing any  thing  from  him  or  his  Parliament  led,  in 
1605,  to  the  Gunpowder  Plot,  the  object  of  which 
was  to  annihilate  at  a  blow  the  king  and  the 
Parliament. 

Catesby,  Percy,  and  some  other  papists,  de- 
vised the  plan  of  storing  gunpowder  under  the 
Parliament  Hall,  to  be  fired  when  the  session 
should  be  opened,  at  which  time  the  king  and 
royal  family  would  be  present.  More  than  twenty 
persons  had  the  fatal  secret;  but  it  was  kept 
until  within  ten  days  of  the  appointed  time,  when 
a  Catholic  peer  received  a  note  advising  him  not 
to  attend  Parliament  if  he  would  avoid  a  calam- 
ity. This  he  carried  to  Lord  Salisbury,  Secretary 
of  State,  and  the  matter  was  at  once  made  known 


Pioneer  of  American  Colonization.     135 

to  King  James.  Salisbury  made  light  of  it;  but 
the  timidity  and  sagacity  of  the  king  prompted 
him  to  order  a  thorough  search  of  the  vaults 
of  tlie  Hall,  where  both  houses  of  Parliament 
assembled.  At  the  door  Guy  Fawkes  was  found 
with  matches  in  his  pocket,  and  two  hogsheads 
and  thirty-six  barrels  of  gunpowder  were  discov- 
ered. Guy  Fawkes,  on  being  put  to  torture,  con- 
fessed the  plot  and  all  the  persons  concerned  in  it. 
These  conspirators,  with  their  attendants,  to  the 
number  of  eighty,  concentrated  at  Warwickshire, 
and  determined  to  defend  tliemselves  against  ar- 
rest. Catesby  and  Percy  were  killed  in  the  at- 
tack, and  the  residue  were  captured,  tried,  and 
executed. 

In  the  Calendar  of  the  Church  of  England  the 
5th  of  November  is  made  a  holiday;  and  the  boys 
in  England,  and  even  in  Boston,  Massachusetts, 
celebrated  it  by  carrying  about  an  effigy  of  Guy 
Fawkes,  singing,  as  they  burnt  it: 

"Remember,  remember 

The  fiftli  of  November, 
Gunpowder  treason  and  plot  I 


136  Sir  Walter  Rai.kigh. 

We  know  no  reason 
Why  gunpowder  treason 
Should  ever  be  forgot. 

Hallo,  boys !     Hurra !" 

The  truly  great  and  the  only  great  deed  which 
distinguishes  the  reign  of  James  was  the  transla- 
tion of  the  original  Scriptures  into  the  English. 
At  the  Hampton  conference,  which  displayed  the 
intolerance  of  the  king,  the  leader  of  the  non- 
conformists was  Dr.  Reynolds,  who  has  the  honor 
of  having  suggested  to  the  king  the  necessity  of 
this  translation.  The  king  at  once  perceived  its 
importance,  and  orders  were  issued  the  next  year, 
1604,  appointing  fifty-four  distinguished  scholars 
to  do  the  work.  Seven  of  them,  however,  for 
some  reason,  failed  to  be  actually  employed  in  it. 
These  were  divided  into  six  classes,  to  each  of 
which  was  assigned  a  distinct  portion  of  the 
Scriptures,  to  be  translated  by  each  member  of 
the  class,  and  to  be  revised  by  the  whole  class, 
and  then  sent  to  the  other  classes  for  examina- 
tion. These  translations  employed  three  years. 
The   whole  work  was  then  sent  to  London,  and 


Pioneer  of  American  Colonization.     137 

was  revised  by  a  committee  of  one  from  each 
of  the  six  classes,  and  finally  criticised  by  Dr. 
Smith  and  Bishop  Bilson.  It  was  finally  printed 
in  161 1.  This  is  admitted  to  be  the  noblest  of 
all  translations  of  the  Bible,  scarcely  inferior  in 
spirit  and  letter  to  the  inspired  original.  Re- 
cently a  convention  of  learned  men  have  been 
employed  on  a  revision  of  King  James's  version, 
which  is  designed  to  correct  what  errors  of  trans- 
lation have  been  observed  in  it,  without  alteration 
of  its  general  style. 

The  ill  will  of  James  to  Raleigh  was  soon 
revealed  by  an  act  of  oppression  in  reference  to 
his  eldest  son,  Walter  Raleigh,  Jr.  This  young 
man  was  engaged  to  a  wealthy  heiress,  Miss 
Basset,  a  descendant  of  the  Plantagenets.  This 
engagement  was  broke  up  by  James,  and  the 
young  lady  compelled  to  marry  Henry  Howard. 
Her  relative.  Sir  Robert  Basset,  opposed  this 
transaction  so  vehemently  that  he  was  made  an 
object  of  the  royal  displeasure,  and  his  estate 
was  confiscated,  and  he  was  compelled  to  flee 
the  country  to  save  his  life. 


138  Sir  Walter  Raleigh. 

The  Earl  of  Southampton,  who  was  an  accom- 
plice of  Essex  in  his  conspirac}^  against  Elizabeth, 
was  called  from  the  Tower,  and  received  with 
favor  by  the  king,  while  Sir  Walter  was  informed 
that  his  presence  was  not  acceptable.  This  ma- 
neuver was  attributed  by  Raleigh  to  the  mali- 
cious influence  of  Cecil,  and  he  wrote  a  letter  to 
the  king,  in  which  he  blamed  Cecil  for  the  exe- 
cution of  Essex,  and  charged  him  with  having 
brought  about  the  execution  of  Queen  Mary, 
against  the  intention  and  wishes  of  Elizabeth. 
This  made  Cecil  his  implacable  enemy.  Sir  Wal- 
ter also  joined  with  others  to  advise  a  limitation 
of  the  prerogatives  of  the  king,  and  moderation 
in  bestowing  honors  upon  those  favorites  who 
were  not  natives  of  England.  This  was  an  un- 
pardonable offense  to  one  who  was  inflated  with 
notions  of  kingly  right  and  privilege — notions, 
which  bequeathed  to  his  son  and  successor, 
Charles  I,  brought  him  to  the  block. 

Before  the  accession  of  James,  the  CathoUcs 
had  much  dispute  among  themselves  as  to  the 
succession.      Much  hope  was  entertained  of  Span- 


Pioneer  of  American  Colonization.     139 

ish  influence  with  the  prospective  king,  procuring 
for  their  Church  great  toleration  and  larger  privi- 
leges, and  agents  were  sent  to  the  court  of  Scot- 
land for  furthering  these  views.  William  Watson 
and  Francis  Clarke,  Catholic  priests,  were  the 
most  prominent  of  these  emissaries.  James  acted 
a  double  part  in  dealing  with  this  question.  To 
the  pope  he  intimated  that  his  accession  to  the 
throne  of  England  would  be  an  advantage  to  the 
Papists,  while  to  the  English  court  he  expressed  his 
dissatisfaction  with  the  leniency  and  favor  shown 
to  them.  Three  weeks  before  his  arrival  in  Eng- 
land a  scheme  for  seizing  his  person  was  com- 
municated by  Sir  Griffin  Markham,  a  Catholic 
gentleman,  to  his  two  trustees,  whom  he  had  in- 
vited to  dine  with  him  at  Berwood  Park.  He 
led  them  into  the  depths  of  the  woods,  and  bound 
them  by  an  oath  not  to  reveal  what  he  was  about 
to  relate.  He  then  told  them  that  a  band  of  men 
had  entered  into  a  conspiracy  to  surprise  tlie 
king  at  Greenwich,  and  to  bring  him  to  the 
Tower,  which  a  party  of  them  was  to  seize  for 
that  purpose.     Among  them  were  George  Brooke, 


I40  Sir  Walter  Raleigh. 

brother  to  Lord  Cobham,  Anthony  Capley,  a  Cath 
olic  gentleman,  and  Lord  Grey,  of  Wilton.  Lore 
Grey  was  a  Puritan,  and  hated  Popery;  but  he 
hated  the  Scotch  more,  and,  like  the  Catholics, 
longed  for  greater  liberty  in  both  civil  and  re- 
ligious matters  than  could  be  hoped  for  from  the 
Scottish  king.  The  original  design  of  surprising 
the  king  at  Greenwich  was  laid  aside  for  a  plan 
of  seizing  him  on  his  departure  from  Hanworth. 
It  was  much  against  Priest  Watson's  judgment 
that  such  a  Protestant  nobleman  as  Lord  Grey 
should  be  mixed  up  with  the  scheme,  and  so  he 
invented  a  plot  within  the  plot  to  capture  the 
king  from  Lord  Grey  and  his  troop,  and  to  carry 
him  to  the  Tower  as  if  for  safe  keeping  from  his 
enemies,  and  by  this  means  to  secure  the  favor 
of  the  king  to  the  Catholic  cause.  He  first  re- 
vealed his  plan  to  Sir  Edward  Parham,  who  fell 
in  with  it  at  once.  But  in  various  ways  the 
scheme  of  surprising  the  king  was  betrayed  to 
the  king's  council,  and  they  took  immediate 
measures  to  guard  the  king's  person.  '  Capley 
was  first  arrested,   and  afterward   the  rest  of  the 


Pioneer  of  American  Colonization.     141 

conspirators.  It  does  not  appear  that  Cobham 
had  any  thing  to  do  with  this  ''treason  of  the 
priests."  His  brother  had  spoken  of  him  to  Wat- 
son, and  of  Sir  Walter  Raleigh,  as  discontented 
with  the  king,  as  well  as  Lord  Grey. 

The  project  of  Cobham  was  a  different  affair  al- 
together. He  had  always  been  opposed  to  Essex 
and  his  views  of  the  succession  of  the  Scottish 
king.  He  favored  at  first  the  right  of  the  Lady 
Arabella;  but  after  his  introduction  to  her  per- 
sonally at  the  court  of  EHzabeth,  for  some  reason, 
he  changed  his  mind.  "When  I  saw  her,"  he 
remarked  to  Cecil,  "I  resolved  never  to  hazard 
my  estate  for  her." 

The  correspondence  of  Cobham  and  Count 
d'  Aremberg,  Embassador  of  Archduke  Albert^ 
Sovereign  of  the  Spanish  Low  Countries,  is  veiled 
in  some  obscurity;  but  it  seems  to  have  been 
respecting  a  treaty  of  peace  with  Spain,  for  which 
the  influence  of  Cobham  was  solicited.  In  their 
intimacies,  Cobham  told  Raleigh  about  a  sum  of 
money  which  he  hoped  to  receive  for  negotiations 
in  this  matter.     This  being  known  by  some  means 


142  Sir  Walter  Raleigh. 

to  the  king's  counselors,  Cobham  was  suspertcd 
of  some  treasonable  designs  of  his  own,  or  com- 
plicity with  the  priests'  conspiracy,  and  Sir  Walter 
Raleigh  was  supposed  to  know  something  about  it. 
One  day  Cecil  met  Raleigh  at  Windsor,  and 
notified  him  that  the  lords  of  the  privy  council 
had  something  to  inquire  of  him.  He  was  asked 
what  he  knew  about  a  correspondence  of  Cob- 
ham  with  Aremberg,  the  Austrian  embassador,  in 
respect  to  Spanish  affairs,  the  object  of  which  was 
to  induce  Raleigh  to  favor  an  alliance  of  England 
with  Spain.  Raleigh  denied  that  Cobham  had 
any  unwarrantable  communication  with  himself 
or  the  Austrian  minister,  and  referred  the  council 
to  Laurencie,  an  Antwerp  merchant,  who  had 
first  introduced  Cobham  to  Aremberg.  Lord  Cob- 
ham was  afterward  called  before  the  council,  and 
he  entirely  exonerated  Raleigh  from  any  improper 
transactions.  After  that,  by  an  infamous  artifice, 
a  letter  of  Raleigh  addressed  to  Cecil  was  shown 
to  Cobham,  from  some  expressions  of  which  he 
was  led  to  conclude  that  Raleigh  had  betrayed 
him.     Whereupon,  as  if  possessed  with  a  demoniac 


Pioneer  of  American  Colonization.     143 

spirit  of  revenge  he  cried  out,  "O  traitor!  O  vil- 
lain! now  will  I  confess  the  whole  truth."  He 
then  confessed  that  his  intention  was  to  go  to 
Spain,  and  borrow  six  hundred  thousand  crowns 
of  Philip  III,  to  pay  the  troops  to  be  employed  in 
the  conspiracy,  and  that  he  was  to  return  by  Jer- 
sey, where  he  would  meet  Raleigh,  and  arrange 
for  the  disbursement  of  the  money.  He  further 
deposed  that  it  was  by  the  instigation  of  Raleigh 
that  he  embarked  in  this  plot.  On  being  ques- 
tioned, he  declared  ignorance  of  any  other  plots, 
and  contradicted  his  previous  statements  by  stating 
that  he  feared  that,  on  arriving  at  Jersey,  Ra- 
leigh would  deliver  him  and  his  money  into  the 
hands  of  the  government.  He  was  then  dis- 
charged; but  before  he  reached  the  stairway  to 
depart,  he  was  seized  with  remorse,  and  returned 
and  retracted  all  that  he  had  said  against  his 
friends.  His  deposition  had  been  taken  in  writ- 
ing; but  he  refused  to  sign  it.  He  was  con- 
strained, however,  to  do  so  by  being  informed  by 
the  chief  justice  that  it  would  be  treated  as  con- 
tempt of  court.     Some  weeks  after  he  was  newly 


144  Sir  Walter  Raleigh. 

examined,  and  distinctly  retracted  his  accusation 
of  Sir  Walter.  Cecil,  who  never  fully  declared 
his  conviction  of  Sir  Walter  Raleigh's  complicity 
with  the  conspirators,  but  seems  quite  willing  to 
find  proof  of  it  against  his  former  friend,  and  in 
his  letters  makes  the  most  of  incidental  matters, 
which  might  look  unfavorable,  now  ascribes  this 
change  in  Cobham  to  a  correspondence  which 
Raleigh  contrived  to  have  with  Cobham  in  the 
confinement  in  neighboring  apartments  of  the 
Tower.  This  was  brought  to  the  attention  of 
Cobham;  that  he  saw  Sir  John  Paxton  talking 
with  Sir  Walter  at  the  window,  and  that,  when 
he  came  to  see  him  shortly  after,  he  said  to  him, 
''I  saw  you  with  Sir  Walter  Raleigh.  God  for- 
give him!  He  hath  accused  me,  but  I  can  not 
accuse  him."  Then  Sir  John  said,  ''He  doth 
say  the  like  of  you :  that  you  have  accused  him, 
but  he  can  not  accuse  you."  Cobham  was  mis- 
taken about  Raleigh's  accusing  him;  it  was  his 
own  brother  Brooke  that  made  the  first  disclos- 
ures of  the  plot. 

Upon    his  first   entrance   into   the  Tower,   Sir 


Pioneer  of  American  Colonization.     145 

'^''alter  Raleigh  gave  way  to  desponding  thoughts. 
He  knew  he  was  innocent;  but  he  had  read  his- 
tory so  as  to  convince  him  that  the  slightest 
things  are  taken  for  proofs  of  treason,  and  the 
innocent  are  condemned  with  the  guilty.  He 
knew  the  law  was  such  that,  if  sentence  was  pro- 
nounced against  him,  it  would  result  in  the  con- 
fiscation of  his  estate,  and  leave  his  wife  and 
family  destitute.  Dwelling  upon  these  consid- 
erations, he  was  so  wrought  up  that  he  deter- 
mined not  to  be  brought  to  trial  by  sacrificing 
his  life.  On  the  20th  of  July,  1603,  while  Lord 
Cecil  was  in  the  Tower  examining  the  prisoners, 
he  stabbed  himself  near  the  right  breast.  Cecil 
writes  about  it:  "Although  lodged  and  attended 
as  well  as  in  his  own  house,  yet  one  afternoon, 
while  divers  of  us  were  in  the  Tower  examining 
these  prisoners,  Sir  Walter  Raleigh  attempted  to 
have  murdered  himself.  Whereof,  when  we  were 
advertised,  we  came  to  him,  and  found  him  in 
some  agony,  seeming  to  be  unable  to  endure  his 
misfortune,    and    protesting    his    innocency    with 

carelessness    of    life.       In    that    humor    he    had 
10 


146  Sir  Walter  Raleigh. 

wounded  himself  under  the  right  pap,  but  no  way 
mortally;  being  in  truth  rather  a  cut  than  a  stab." 
The  following  letter,  lately  found  among  State 
papers,  and  published  in  Edwards's  second  vol- 
ume' reveals  the  feeling  which  moved  him  to  this 
rash  act: 

TO  LADY  RALEIGH. 

"  Receive  from  thy  unfortunate  husband  these, 
his  last  lines;  these,  the  last  words  thou  shalt  ever 
receive  from  him.  That  I  can  live  to  see  thee 
and  my  child  more ! — I  can  not.  I  have  desired 
God  and  disputed  with  my  reason,  but  nature  and 
compassion  hath  the  victory.  That  I  can  live  to 
think  how  you  are  both  left  a  spoil  to  my  ene- 
mies, and  that  my  name  shall  be  a  dishonor  to 
my  child,  —  I  can  not.  I  can  not  endure  the 
memory  thereof.  Unfortunate  woman,  unfortu- 
nate child,  comfort  yourselves;  trust  God,  and  be 
contented  in  your  poor  estate.  I  would  have  bet- 
tered it,  if  I  had  enjoyed  a  few  years. 

''Thou  art  a  young  woman,  and  forbear  not 
to  marry  again ;  thou  art  no  more  mine,  nor  I 
thine.     To  witness  that  thou  didst  love  me  once. 


Pioneer  of  American  Colonization.     147 

take  care  that  thou  marry  not  to  please  sense, 
but  to  avoid  poverty,  and  to  preserve  thy  child. 
That  thou  didst  also  love  me  living,  witness  it  to 
others;  to  my  poor  daughter,  to  whom  I  have 
given  nothing;  for  his  sake,  who  will  be  cruel  to 
himself  to  preserve  thee.  Be  charitable  to  her,  and 
teach  thy  son  to  love  her  for  his  father's  sake. 

''For  myself,  I  am  left  of  all  men  that  have 
done  good  to  many.  All  my  good  turns  forgotten; 
all  my  errors  revived  and  expounded  to  all  ex- 
tremity of  ill.  All  my  services,  hazards,  and 
expenses  for  my  country — plantings,  discoveries, 
fights,  councils,  and  whatsoever  else — malice  hath 
now  covered  over.  I  am  now  made  an  enemy 
and  traitor  by  the  word  of  an  unworthy  man. 
He  hath  proclaimed  me  to  be  a  partaker  of  his 
vain  imaginations,  notwithstanding  the  whole 
course  of  my  life  hath  approved  the  contrary,  as 
my  death  shall  approve  it.  Woe,  woe,  woe  be 
unto  him  by  whose  falsehood  we  are  lost !  He 
hath  separated  us  asunder.  He  hath  slain  my 
honor,  my  fortune.  He  hath  robbed  thee  of  thy 
husband,  thy  child  of  his  father,  and  me  of  you 


148  Sir  Walter  Raleigh. 

both.  O  God,  thou  dost  know  my  wrongs. 
Know  then,  thou  my  wife  and  child;  know  then, 
thou  my  lord  and  king, — that  I  ever  thought 
them  too  honest  to  betray,  and  too  good  to  con- 
spire against. 

' '  But,  my  wife,  forgive  them  all,  as  I  do. 
Live  humble,  for  thou  hast  but  a  time  also.  God 
forgive  my  Lord  Harry !  for  he  was  my  heavy 
enemy.  And  for  my  Lord  Cecil,  I  thought 
he  would  never  forsake  me  in  extremity.  I 
would  not  have  done  it  him,  God  knows.  But 
do  not  thou  know  it;  for  he  must  be  master  of 
thy  child,  and  may  have  compassion  of  him.  Be 
not  dismayed  that  I  died  in  despair  of  God's 
mercies.  Strive  not  to  dispute  it.  But  assure 
thyself  that  God  hath  not  left  me,  nor  Satan 
tempted  me.  Hope  and  Despair  live  not  together. 
I  know  it  is  forbidden  to  destroy  ourselves;  but 
trust  it  is  forbidden  in  this  sort,  that  we  destroy 
not  ourselves  despairing  of  God's  mercy.  The 
mercy  of  God  is  immeasurable;  the  cogitations 
of  men  comprehend  it  not. 

'*  In  the  Lord  I  have  ever  trusted,  and  I  know 


Pioneer  of  American  Colonization.     149 

that  my  Redeemer  liveth.  Far  is  it  from  me  to 
be  tempted  with  Satan.  I  am  only  tempted  with 
sorrow,  whose  sharp  teeth  devour  my  heart.  O 
God,  thou  art  goodness  itself.  Thou  canst  not 
but  be  good  to  me.  O  God,  thou  art  mercy 
itself.     Thou  canst  not  but  be  merciful  to  me. 

''For  my  estate,  [it]  is  conveyed  to  feoffees — 
to  your  cousin  Brett  and  others.  I  have  but  a 
bare  estate  for  a  short  life.  My  plate  is  at  gage 
in  Lombard  Street;  my  debts  are  many  To 
Peter  Vanlove,  some  ;^6oo.  To  Atropus  ^s 
much,  but  Compton  is  to  pay  ;£"3oo  of  it.  To 
Michael  Hext,  ;£"ioo.  To  George  Carew,  ;^ioo. 
To  Nicholas  Sanderson,  ;£ioo.  To  Jolin  Fitz- 
james,  ;^ioo.  To  Master  Waddon,  ;£'ioo.  To 
a  poor  man,  one  Hawkes,  for  horses,  ^To.  To 
a  poor  man  called  Hunt,  ;^2o.  Take  first  care 
of  those,  for  God's  sake.  To  a  brewer  at  Wey- 
mouth, and  a  baker,  for  Lord  Cecil's  ship  and 
mine,  I  think  some  /^So.  John  Reynolds  know- 
eth  it.  And  let  that  poor  man  have  his  true  part 
of  my  return  from  Virginia;  and  let  tlie  pool 
men's    wages    be   paid   with    the   goods,    for   the 


I50 


Sir  Walter  Raleigh. 


Lord's  sake.  Oh,  what  will  my  poor  servants 
think,  at  their  return,  when  they  hear  I  am  ac- 
cused to  be  Spanish,  who  sent  them — at  my  great 
charge — to  plant  and  discover  upon  his  territory, 

"Oh,  intolerable  infamy!  O  God,  I  can  not 
resist  these  thoughts!  I  can  not  live  to  think 
how  I  am  derided,  to  think  of  the  expectation 
of  my  enemies,  the  scorns  I  shall  receive,  the 
cruel  words  of  lawyers,  the  infamous  taunts  and 
despites,  to  be  made  a  wonder  and  a  spectacle ! 
O  Death,  hasten  thou  unto  me,  that  thou  mayest 
destroy  the  memory  of  these,  and  lay  me  up  in 
dark  forgetfulness !  O  Death,  destroy  my  mem- 
ory, which  is  my  tormentor !  my  thoughts  and  my 
life  can  not  dwell  in  one  body.  But  do  thou  for- 
get me,  poor  wife,  that  thou  mayest  live  to  bring 
up  my  poor  child. 

"I  recommend  unto  you  my  poor  brother 
Gilbert.  The  lease  of  Tandridge  is  his,  and  none 
of  mine.  Let  him  have  it,  for  God's  cause.  He 
knows  what  is  due  to  me  upon  it.  And  be  good 
to  Kemis;  for  he  is  a  perfect  honest  man,  and 
hath  much  wrong  for   my  sake.     For  the  rest,  I 


Pioneer  of  American  Colonization.     151 

commend  me  to  them,  and  them  to  God.  And 
the  Lord  knows  my  sorrows  to  part  from  thee  and 
my  poor  child.  But  part  I  must,  by  enemies  and 
injuries;  part  with  shame,  and  triumph  of  my 
detractors.  And  therefore  be  contented  with  this 
work  of  God,  and  forget  me  in  all  things  but 
thine  own  honor  and  the  love  of  mine. 

"I  bless  my  poor  child;  and  let  him  know 
his  father  was  no  traitor.  Be  bold  of  my  inno- 
cence; for  God,  to  whom  I  offer  life  and  soul, 
knows  it.  And  whosoever  thou  choose  again  after 
me,  let  him  but  be  thy  politique  husband.  But 
let  my  son  be  thy  beloved,  for  he  is  part  of  me, 
and  I  live  in  him;  and  the  difference  is  but  in 
the  number,  and  not  in  the  kind.  And  the  Lord 
forever  keep  thee  and  them,  and  give  thee  com- 
fort in  both  worlds!" 

After  Raleigh's  recovery  from  his  wound,  he, 
like  the  other  prisoners,  was  subjected  to  private 
examinations;  but  through  all  he  confesses  no 
guilt,  and  discloses  nothing  which  betrays  con- 
nection  with   the   conspiracy.     On  the   contrary, 


152  Sir  Walter  Raleigh. 

Lord  Grey  confessed  that  he  "had  a  part,  a 
party,  and  confederates,"  and  that  their  object 
was  to  take  the  king  and  his  court  by  surprise. 
Brooke  and  Cobham  made  similar  acknowledg- 
ments, and  threw  themsleves  on  tlie  mercy  of  the 
king.  Raleigh  wrote  an  eloquent  letter  to  the 
Earls  of  Nottingham,  Suffolk,  and  Devonshire, 
and  Lord  Cecil,  protesting  his  innocence,  and 
showing  reasons  why  he  ought  not  to  be  con- 
founded with  the  guilty.  He  wrote  also  suppli- 
cating letters  to  the  king.  He  managed  to  hold 
a  communication  with  Cobham,  entreating  him  to 
exonerate  him.  He  paid  money  to  an  attendant 
in  the  prison  to  throw  an  apple  into  Cobham's 
apartment,  containing  a  letter  to  this  effect.  The 
answer  was  not  altogether  satisfactory.  He  then 
sent  another  letter  in  the  same  way,  requesting 
Cobham  at  least  to  declare  his  innocence  at  the 
approaching  trial.  To  this  a  reply  came,  plainly 
and  solemnly  declaring  that  Raleigh  was  innocent 
of  all  the  charges. 

As  it  happened  that  the  plague  was  raging  at 
London,   and   people    were   dying    every-where — 


Pioneer  of  American  Colonization.     153 

except,  strange  to  relate,  in  the  Tower — it  became 
necessary  to  remove  the  prisoners,  for  trial,  to 
Winchester  Castle.  Thither,  in  September,  Ra- 
leigh was  conveyed  in  his  own  coach,  under  the 
direction  of  Sir  William  Wade,  who  was,  accord- 
ing to  his  own  account,  in  constant  alarm  from 
the  manifestation  of  popular  ill-will  toward  his 
illustrious  prisoners.  Mud  and  stones,  and  even 
tobacco-pipes,  were  thrown  into  the  coach.  "He 
that  had  seen  it,"  says  Wade,  'Svould  not  think 
there  had  been  any  sickness  in  London.  We 
took  the  best  order  we  could  in  setting  watches 
through  all  the  streets,  both  in  London  and  the 
suburbs.  If  one  hair-brain  fellow  among  so  great 
multitudes  had  begun  to  set  on  him,  as  they  were 
very  ready  to  do,  no  night-watch  or  means  could 
have  prevailed,  the  fury  and  tumult  of  the  people 
were  so  great."  Raleigh  seems  never  to  have 
been  popular  with  the  masses,  though  very  much 
beloved  by  his  attendants,  and  by  soldiers  and 
sailors  in  his  service.  The  wrath  of  the  populace, 
in  this  instance,  was  destined  by  the  events  of  the 
trial  to  be  converted  into  admiration  and  pity. 


154  Sir  Walter  Raleigh. 


C'l^kptef    XIV. 

THE  TRIAL  OF  RALEIGH  AND  THE  CONSPIRATORS — CONDUCT 
OF  SIR  EDWARD  COKE— THE  SENTENCE  OF  THE  PRISONERS. 

''  I  ^HE  plague,  which  made  it  necessary  for  the 
^  court  to  leave  London,  continued  to  rage 
until  thirty  thousand  of  the  population' perished. 
The  king  and  his  council  repaired  to  Welton.  A 
court  of  king's  bench  was  prepared  by  the  sheriff 
of  Hants,  at  Wolverley  Castle,  the  old  episcopal 
Palace  of  Winchester.  The  trial  hi  Sir  Walter 
Raleigh  commenced  on  the  17th  of  November, 
O.  S.  Cecil,  Wade,  and  Henry  Howard  were 
made  judges  by  special  commission.  With  them 
were  Lord  Thomas  Howard,  Charles  Blount, 
Edward  Walton,  Sir  John  Stanhope,  Popham, 
lord  chief- justice,  Anderson,  chief -justice  of  the 
common  pleas,  and  two  judges,  Warburton  and 
Gandy.  Sir  Edward  Coke,  attorney-general,  was 
assisted  by  Sergeant  Hale.     The  jury  consisted  of 


Pioneer  of  American  Colonization.     155 

knights,  squires,  and  gentlemen,  all  strangers  to 
Raleigh.  When  the  indictment  was  read,  Sir 
Walter  pleaded,  "Not  guilty;"  and  when  asked 
if  he  had  any  objection  to  the  jury,  he  answered, 
"I  know  none  of  them,  but  think  them  all  honest 
and  Christian  men.  I  know  my  own  innocence, 
and,  therefore,  will  challenge  none.  All  are  in- 
different to  me.  Only  this  I  desire :  sickness 
hath  of  late  weakened  me,  and  my  memory  is  al- 
ways bad;  the  points  in  the  indictment  are  many, 
and  perhaps  in  the  evidence  more  will  be  urged. 
I  beseech  you,  therefore,  my  lords,  let  me  answer 
the  points  severally  as  they  are  delivered,  for  I 
shall  not  carry  them  all  in  my  mind  to  the  end." 

Coke  objected:  "The  king's  evidence  ought 
not  to  be  broken  or  dismembered,  whereby  it 
might  lose  much  of  its  grace  and  vigor."  This 
objection  was  overruled  in  part. 

The  indictment  substantially  was  that  he  had 
conspired  against  the  government  of  the  king ; 
had  sought  to  excite  sedition,  to  introduce  the 
Papal  religion,  and  to  engage  foreign  nations  to 
invade    the   kingdom.     In    addition    to   this   con- 


156  Sir  Walter  Raleigh. 

spiracy,  he  was  charged  with  having  published  a 
book  against  the  title  of  James,  and  had  incited 
Lady  Arabella  Stuart  to  write  to  the  King  of 
Spain,  to  the  Archduke  of  Austria,  and  to  the 
Duke  of  Saxony  to  advance  her  title.  Besides 
this  he  was  implicated  in  transactions  between 
Cobham  and  Aremburg,  Embassador  of  Aus- 
tria, to  obtain  five  or  six  hundred  thousand 
crowns  from  Philip  III  of  Spain  to  aid  the  trea- 
son, of  which  Raleigh  should  have  the  disburse- 
ment of  ten  thousand  crowns. 

The  opening  of  the  case  was  made  by  Ser- 
geant Hale,  who  displayed  as  much  ability  to 
manage  such  a  case  as  could  be  expected  from  a 
small  lawyer  who  could  affirm,  "As  for  the  Lady 
Arabella,  she,  upon  my  conscience,  hath  no  more 
tide  to  the  crown  than  I  have,  which  before  God 
I  utterly  renounce."  As  James  himself  could  not 
trace  a  more  direct  relation  to  the  royal  line  than 
Lady  Arabella,  Raleigh  was  seen  to  smile  at  the 
blundering  witticism  of  the  king's  sergeant-at-law. 
Sir  Edward  Coke  soon  followed  in  turn,  and 
made  a  display  of  mingled  acuteness,  eloquence, 


Pioneer  of  American  Colonization.     157 

effrontery,  and  malignity,  which  has  left  a  blot 
upon  his  character.  He  declared  that  as  no  re- 
sort had  been  made  to  torture  to  extract  the  truth 
from  the  conspirators,  so  he  should  bring  nothing 
but  plain  and  positive  proof  against  the  prisoner. 
He  analyzed  the  crime  charged  in  the  following 
pedantic  manner:  *'Unto  all  great  mischiefs, 
there  be  ever  three  inseparable  incidents.  The 
first  is  invitation;  the  second,  siipportation ;  the 
third,  defense.  Within  these  three  fall  all  Sir 
Walter  Raleigh's  treasons.  For  his  is  the  treason 
of  ^the  mainf  the  others  were  ^the  bye.*  The 
treason  of  ^the  buy*  was  that  Lord  Grey,  Brooke, 
Markham,  and  the  others  should  hastily  surprise 
the  king's  court.  This  was  a  rebellion  in  the 
heart  of  the  realm ;  yea,  in  the  heart  of  the  heart, 
that  is,  the  court.  They  intended  to  break  open 
the  doors  with  muskets,  and  so  of  a  sovereign 
make  a  subject.  Having  him,  they  meant  to 
carry  him  to  the  Tower,  and  to  keep  him  there 
until  they  had  extorted  three  things  from  him — 
first,  their  own  pardon;  secondly,  toleration  for 
the    Romish    superstition;    and,   thirdly,    the    re- 


158  Sir  Walter  Raleigh. 

moval  of  certain  privy  councilors.  This,"  he 
concluded,  "was  the  treason  of  'the  buy.'" 

Raleigh  interposed,  and  addressed  the  jury : 
''I  pray  you,  gentlemen  of  the  jury,  to  remember 
that  I  am  not  charged  with  the  'buy,'  which  was 
the  treason  of  the  priests." 

"You  are  not,"  replied  Coke;  "but  your 
lordships  will  see  that  all  these  treasons,  though 
they  consisted  of  several  points,  closed  in  to- 
gether, like  Samson's  foxes,  which  were  joined 
in  the  tails,  though  the  heads  were  severed." 

He  then  went  on  reciting  cases  of  treason 
in  other  reigns,  and  showing,  too,  or  rather 
trying  to  show,  that  only  one  witness  was  nec- 
essary to  make  out  a  case  of  treason.  He 
finally  comes  to  the  case.  ' '  Now,  my  masters 
of  the  jury,  I  come  to  your  charge.  Treason 
is  of  four  kinds — treason  in  cofde  (in  the  heart), 
which  is  the  root  of  the  tree;  treason  ifi  ore 
(in  the  mouth),  which  is  the  bud;  treason  in  manu 
(in  the  hand),  which  is  the  blossom;  and  treason 
171  consufmnatione  (in  consummation),  which  is  the 
fruit.     In  this  case  you  shall  find  the  three  first 


Pioneer  of  American  Colonization.      159 

of  these,  these  traitors  being  prevented  before  the 
consummation  of  their  mischiefs.  But,  though 
prevented,  they  are  still  traitors  /;/  cordc,  in  ore, 
et  in  ina?iuy  And  so  he  went  on  quoting  Latin 
phrases,  and  charging  the  conspirators  with  the 
purpose  not  only  to  take  the  life  of  the  king,  but 
to  destroy  his  posterity.  Then  turning  to  Ra- 
leigh, he  said,  ''But  to  whom,  Sir  Walter,  did 
you  bear  malice?     To  the  royal  clnldren?" 

"Master  attorney,"  said  Raleigh,  ''I  pray  you, 
to  whom  or  to  what  end  speak  you  all  this?  I 
protest  I  do  not  understand  what  a  word  of  this 
means,  except  it  be  to  tell  the  news.  What  is 
the  treason  of  Markham  and  the  priests  to  me?" 

Coke  replied,  ''I  will,  then,  come  close  to 
you.  I  will  prove  you  to  be  the  most  notorious 
traitor  that  ever  came  to  the  bar.  They,  indeed, 
are  upon  'the  mainf  but  you  followed  them  of 
'the  bye'  in  imitation.  I  will  charge  you  with 
the  words." 

''Your  words  can  not  condemn  me,"  responded 
Raleigh.  ' '  My  innocence  is  my  defense.  Prove 
against  me  any  one  thing  of  the   many  that  you 


i6o  Sir  Walter  Raleigh. 

have  spoken,  and  I  will  confess  all  the  indict- 
ment, and  that  I  am  the  most  horrible  traitor  that 
ever  lived,  and  worthy  to  be  crucified  with  a 
thousand  torments." 

*'Nay,"  said  Coke,  "I  will  prove  all.  Thou 
art  a  monster;  thou  hast  an  English  face,  but  a 
Spanish  heart.  You  would  have  stirred  England 
and  Scodand  both.  You  incited  the  Lord  Cob- 
ham,  as  soon  as  Count  Aremberg  came  into  Eng- 
land, to  go  to  him.  The  night  he  went  you 
supped  with  Lord  Cobham,  and  he  brought  you 
after  supper  to  Dunbar  House;  and  then,  the  same 
night,  by  a  back  way,  went  with  La  Renzi  to 
Count  Aremberg,  and  got  from  him  a  promise 
of  the  money.  After  this  it  was  arranged  that 
Lord  Cobham  should  go  to  Spain,  and  return  by 
Jersey."  So  he  went  on  simply  affirming  the  in- 
dictment. 

Raleigh  cried  out,  "Let  me  answer;  it  con- 
cerns my  life!" 

Coke:   "Thou  shalt  not." 

Lord  Chief  Justice  Popham  then  interposed, 
saying:   "Sir  Walter  Raleigh,   master  attorney  is 


Pioneer  of  American  Colonization.     i6i 

yet  but  in  general.  But  when  the  king's  counsel 
hath  given  the  whole  evidence,  you  shall  answer 
to  every  particular." 

After  this  Coke  went  on  stating  that  Cobham 
invented  the  scheme,  but  Raleigh  was  relied 
upon,  both  as  a  ''politician  and  landsman,"  to 
manage  and  execute  the  plot;  and  that  he  con- 
trived that  Cobham  should  be  the  only  witness 
against  him,  believing  that  he  could  not  be  con- 
victed of  treason  by  only  one  witness.  He  re- 
lated several  matters  in  which  Cobham  was  con- 
cerned. 

Raleigh  replied  :  ' '  What  is  this  to  me  ?  I  do 
not  hear  yet  that  you  have  spoken  one  word 
against  me.  If  my  Lord  Cobham  be  a  traitor, 
what  is  that  to  me  ?" 

Coke  retorted:  "All  that  he  did  was  by  thy 
instigation,  thou  viper!  for  I  thou  thee,  thou 
traitor!  I  will  prove  thee  the  rankest  traitor  in 
all  England." 

Raleigh  replied  that  he  might  call  him  a  traitor, 
but  that  was  no  proof  of  it.  The  lord  chief- 
justice  then  charged  tliem  both  to  ''be  patient." 


i62  Sir  Walter  Raleigh. 

Coke  then  proceeded  to  give  his  proofs.  It 
was  simply  a  record  of  the  examinations  of  Cob- 
ham,  which  was  read  by  the  clerk  of  the  crown. 
Raleigh  requested  to  look  at  it.  Having  done 
so,  he  addressed  the  jury  in  his  defense.  He 
explained  that  he  was  aware  that  Cobham, 
through  La  Renzi,  had  communications  with 
Count  Aremberg,  and  he  informed  Cecil  of  it,  and 
that  La  Renzi  should  be  called  to  account  for  it; 
but  Cecil  thought  it  not  politic  to  do  so,  as  the 
embassador  might  be  offended;  and  that  this 
letter  was  shown  to  Cobham,  who  in  a  sudden 
rage  denounced  him  as  a  traitor,  and  then  re- 
pented of  it  "ere  he  came  to  the  stairs'  foot,  and 
acknowledged  he  had  done  wrong."  He  then 
turned  to  the  attorney-general, 'and  said,  in  lan- 
guage that  thrilled  every  loyal  and  honest  English- 
man and  Scotchman  in  the  assembly : 

"Master  attorney,  whether  to  favor  or  to  disable 
my  Lord  Cobham,  you  speak  as  you  will  of  him; 
yet  he  is  not  such  a  traitor  as  you  make  of  him. 
He  hath  dispositions  of  such  violence,  which  his 
best  friends  could  never  temper.     But  it  is  very 


Pioneer  of  American  Colonization.     i6 


strange  that  I,  at  tliis  time,  should  be  thought  to 
plot  with  the  Lord  Cobham,  knowing  him  a  man 
that  hath  neither  love  or  following;  and  myself, 
at  this  time,  having  resigned  a  place  of  my  best 
command  in  an  ofifice  I  had  in  Cornwall,  I  was 
not  so  bare  of  sense  but  I  saw  that,  if  ever  this 
state  was  strong,  it  was  now  that  we  have  the 
kingdom  of  Scotland  united,  whence  we  were 
wont  to  fear  all  our  troubles;  Ireland  quieted, 
where  our  forces  were  wont  to  be  divided;  Den- 
mark assured,  whom  before  we  were  always  wont 
to  have  in  jealousy;  the  Low  Countries  our  near- 
est neighbor.  And,  instead  of  a  lady  whom  time 
had  surprised,  we  had  now  an  active  king,  who 
would  be  present  at  his  own  business.  For  me 
at  this  time  to  make  myself  a  Robin  Hood,  a 
Wat  Tyler,  a  Kett,  or  a  Jack  Cade !  I  was  not 
so  mad.  I  knew  the  state  of  Spain  well;  his 
weakness,  his  poorness,  his  humbleness  at  this 
time.  I  knew  that  six  times  we  had  repulsed  his 
forces :  thrice  in  Ireland ;  thrice  at  sea, — once 
upon  our  coast,  twice  upon  his  own.  Thrice  had 
I   served   against  him  myself  at  sea,  Avherein  for 


1 64  Sir  Walter  Raleigh. 

my  country's  sake  I  had  expended  of  my  own 
property  forty  thousand  marks.  I  knew  that 
where  beforetimffs  he  was  wont  to  have  forty 
great  sails,  at  the  least,  in  his  ports,  now  he  hath 
not  past  six  or  seven.  And  for  sending  to  his 
Indies  he  was  driven  to  have  strange  vessels,  a 
thing  contrary  to  the  institutions  of  his  ancestors, 
w^ho  straitly  forbade  that,  even  in  case  of  neces- 
sity, they  should  make  their  necessity  known  to 
strangers.  I  knew  that,  of  twenty-five  millions 
which  he  had  from  his  Indies,  he  had  scarce  any 
left.  Nay,  I  knew  his  poorness  to  be  such  at  this 
time  as  [that]  the  Jesuits,  his  imps,  begged  at  his 
church  doors.  [I  knew]  his  pride  so  abated  that, 
notwithstanding  his  former  high  terms,  he  was 
glad  to  congratulate  his  majesty,  and  send  unto 
him.  Whoso  knew  what  great  assurances  were 
required  from  other  states,  for  smaller  sums,  would 
not  think  he  would  so  freely  disburse  to  my  Lord 
Cobham  six  hundred  thousand  crowns !  And,  if 
I  had  minded  to  set  my  Lord  Cobham  a-work  in 
such  a  case,  I  would  have  given  liim  some  instruc- 
tions how  to   persuade   the   king.      For  I  knew 


Pioneer  of  American  Colonization.     165 

Cobham    no   such   minion    that  could  persuade  a 
king  that  was  in  want  to  disburse  so  great  a  sum, 
without  great  reason,  and  some  assurance  for  his 
money.     I  knew  the  Queen  of  England  lent  not 
her  money  to  the  States,  without  she  l^d  Flush- 
i"g,   Brill,   and   other   towns,   in   assurance  for  it. 
She  lent  not  money  to  the  King  of  France,  with- 
out  she    had    Newhaven    for    it.     Nay,   her  own 
subjects,  the  merchants  of  London,  did  not  lend 
lier  money,   without  they  had  her  lands  in  pawn 
for  it.     And  to  show  that  I  am  not  'Spanish'- 
as  you  term  me-at  this  time  I  had  writ  a  treatise 
to  the  king's  majesty  of  the  present  state  of  Spain, 
and  reasons  against  the  peace. 

''For  my  inwardness  with  the  Lord  Cobham, 
it  was  only  in  matters  of  private  estate,  wherein,' 
he  communicating  often  with  me,  I  lent  him  my 
best  advice.  At  this  time  I  was  to  deal  with  the 
duke  for  him,  to  procure  a  fee  farm  from  the 
king;  for  which  purpose  I  had  about  me  in  my 
bosom,  when  I  was  first  examined,  four  thousand 
pounds  worth  of  his  jewels.  He  being  a  baron 
of  this   realm,  upon  whom   all   the   honors  of  his 


1 66  Sir  Walter  Raleigh. 

house  rested;  his  possessions  great;  having  goodly 
houses,  worth  at  least  five  thousand  pounds  a 
year  revenue;  his  plate  and  furniture  as  rich  as 
was  any  man  of  his  rank, — is  it  likely  I  could  so 
easily  incite  a  man  of  these  fortunes  to  enter  into 
so  gross  treasons  ?  And  for  further  argument  that 
he  was  not  desperate  in  estate  nor  poor  in  purse, 
he  offered  four  thousand  pounds  for  this  fee  farm. 
Not  three  days  before  his  apprehending  he  had 
bestowed  one  hundred  and  fifty  pounds  in  books, 
which  he  sent  to  his  house  at  Canterbury.  He 
gave  [too]  three  hundred  pounds  for  a  cabinet, 
which  he  offered  to  you,  master  attorney,  for  the 
drawing  of  his  book.  He  had  the  value  of  thirty- 
five  hundred  pounds  in  one  piece  of  [plate],  besides 
one  ring  worth  five  hundred  pounds;  and  besides 
many  others  jewels,  of  price.  Think  now  if  it 
be  likely  that  this  man,  upon  an  idle  humor, 
would  venture  all  this.  As  for  my  knowing  that 
he  had  conspired  all  these  things  with  Spain,  for 
Arabella,  and  against  the  king,  I  protest  before 
Almighty  God  I  am  as  clear  as  whosoever  here 
is  freest." 


Pioneer  of  American  Colonization.     167 

The  next  thing  brouglit  forward  by  the  attorney 
general  was  the  document  which  Cobham  refused 
to  sign  at  first,  but  was  afterward  constrained  to 
do  so  by  the  Chief-Justice  Popham  saying  that  he 
would  be  compelled  to  do  so. 

The  chief-justice  then,  contrary  to  all  the 
rules  of  courts  of  justice,  volunteers  his  testimony. 
''I  came  to  the  Lord  Cobham,  and  told  him  he 
ought  to  subscribe,  which  presently  after  the  Lord 
Cobham  did.  And  he  said  of  Sir  Walter  Raleigh 
in  the  doing  of  it,  '  That  wretch !  That  traitor 
Raleigh !'  And  surely  the  countenance  and  ac- 
tion of  my  Lord  Cobham  much  satisfied  me 
that  what  he  had  confessed  was  true,  and 
that  he  surely  thought  that  Sir  Walter  had  be- 
trayed him." 

What  a  procedure  for  a  judge  upon  the  bench 
trying  the  case !  The  foreman  of  the  jury  asked 
for  the  time  of  Lord  Cobham's  accusation.  Lord 
Cecil  then,  half  apologizing  for  testifying  in  Ra- 
leigh's favor,  answered  that  Raleigh  was  examined 
at  the  outset  of  the  inquiry,  and  that  he  testified 
nothing  against  Lord  Cobham  whatsoever. 


1 68  Sir  Walter  Raleigh. 

Cobham  was  deceived,  and  was  so  enraged 
against  Raleigh  that  he  accused  him  of  treason. 

Coke  then  repHed  at  length  to  Raleigh's  speech, 
after  which  Raleigh  begged  to  have  his  accuser 
brought  face  to  face  to  him,  and  declared  that  to 
rely  on  one  witness  in  such  a  case  was  contrary 
to  the  law  of  God  and  the  justice  of  mankind. 

Both  the  justices  decided  that  it  was  according 
to  law  and  usage,  and  they  denied  his  right  to 
demand  the  presence  of  his  accuser. 

The  matter  of  Raleigh's  receiving  a  part  of  the 
money  expected  of  the  King  of  Spain  was  then 
brought  in.  To  this  Raleigh  made  the  following 
reply : 

•'  Mr.  Attorney,  you  have  seemed  to  say  much, 
but  in  truth  nothing  that  applies  to  me.  You  con- 
clude that  I  must  know  of  the  plot  because  I  was 
to  have  a  part  of  the  money.  But  all  you  have 
said  concerning  this  I  have  made  void  by  distin- 
guishing the  time  when  it  was  spoken.  It  is  true, 
my  Lord  Cobham  had  speech  with  me  about  the 
money,  and  made  me  an  offer.  But  how?  and 
when?     Voluntarily;    one   day   at   dinner,    some- 


Pioneer  of  American  Colonization.     169 

time  before  Count  Aremberg's  coming  over.     For 
he  and  I,   being  at  liis   own   board,   arguing  and 
speaking   violently— he   for   the   peace,   I   against 
the    peace,    the    Lord    Cobham    told    me    that 
when  Count  Aremberg  came,  he  would  give  such 
strong  arguments  for  the   peace  as  would   satisfy 
any  man.     And  withal  he  told,  as   his  fashion  is 
to  utter  things  easily,  what  great  sums  of  money 
would   be   given    to  some  councilors   for   makino- 
the  peace,  and  he  named  my  Lord  Cecil  and  the 
Earl   of  Mar.     I   answering,   bade   him  make  no 
such  offer  to  them,  for  they  would  hate  him  if  he 
did  offer  it.     Now,   if  often   thus  my  Lord   Cob- 
ham  changed  his  mind  as  to  the  use  to  be  made 
of  the  money,  and  joining  with   Lord  Grey  and 
the    others,   had    any  such   treasonable   intent    as 
is  alleged,  what  is  that  to  me?     They  must  answer 
it,    not    I.      The    offer    of   the    money   to    me   is 
nothing,    for   it    was   made    before    Count    Arem- 
berg's  coming.      The   offer   made    to   others  was 
afterward." 

Lord  Henry  Howard  said:    ''Allege   me   any 
ground  or  cause  why  you   gave  ear   to  my  Lord 


lyo  Sir  Walter  Raleigh. 

Cobham  ,on  receiving  of  pensions  in  matters  you 
had  not  to  deal  in." 

Raleigh  replied :  ' '  Could  I  stop,  my  Lord 
Cobham's  mouth?" 

Cecil  then  appealed  to  the  judges  to  say 
whether  the  accuser  of  Raleigh  should  not  be 
brought  face  to  face  with  accused. 

Justices  Popham  and  Gowdy  denied  the  right 
of  the  prisoner  to  claim  this  by  law. 

The  examinations  of  Capley  and  of  Raleigh 
were  then  read,  in  which  Raleigh  was  charged 
with  saying  that  "the  way  to  invade  England 
was  to  begin  with  stirs  in  Scotland." 

Raleigh  replied:  ''I  think  so  still.  I  have 
spoken  it  often  to  divers  of  the  lords  by  way  of 
discourse  and  my  opinion." 

Coke  then  said:  "Now  let  us  come  to  the 
words  of  destroying  of  'the  king  and  his  cubs.'" 

Raleigh  exclaimed  :  "  Oh,  barbarous !  If  they, 
like  unnatural  villains,  spoke  such  words,  shall  I 
be  charged  with  them?  I  will  not  hear  it.  I 
was  never  false  to  the  crown  of  England.  I  have 
spent  forty  thousand  pounds  of  niine  own  against 


Pioneer  of  Ame"rican  Colonization.     171 

the  Spanish  faction  for  the  good  of  my  country. 
Do  you  bring  the  words  of  tliose  helhsh  spiders 
Clarke,  Watson,  and  others  against  me?" 

Coke  retorted:  ''Thou  hast  a  Spanish  heart, 
and  thyself  art  a  spider  of  hell.  For  thou  con- 
fessest  the  king  to  be  a  most  sweet  and  gracious 
prince,  and  yet  thou  hast  conspired  against  him." 

The  only  proof  of  this  allegation  was  that 
Brooke  stated  in  his  examination  that  he  thought 
that  the  project  of  "  the  destruction  of  the  king 
was  infused  into   his  brother's  head  by  Raleigh." 

"If  this  may  be,"  exclaimed  Raleigh,  indig- 
nantly protesting  against  such  evidence,  "you 
will  have  any  man's  life  in  a  week !" 

It  was  then  read  from  Cobham's  examination  : 
"I  had  from  Raleigh  a  book  written  against  the 
tide  of  the  king.  I  gave  it  to  my  brother.  Ra- 
leigh said,  'It  was  foolishly  written.'" 

Raleigh  replied  to  this:  "I  never  gave  it  him. 
He  took  it  off  my  table.  For  I  remember  a  litde 
before  that  time  I  received  a  challenge  from  Sir 
Amias  Preston,  and  for  that  I  did  resolve  to  an- 
swer it.     I   resolved    to   leave  my  estate   settled. 


172  Sir  Walter  Raleigh. 

and,  therefor,  laid  out  all  my  loose  papers, 
amongst  which  was  this  book." 

The  point  which  was  then  made  was  whether 
this  book  was  given  to  Cobham  before  or  after 
the  Lord  Cobham  was  known  to  be  discontented 
with  King  James.  As  to  the  matter  of  it.  Lord 
Henry  Howard  testified  that  Cobham  had  con- 
tradicted himself  on  this  subject,  having  first  said 
it  was  against  the  king's  title,  and  afterward  said 
that  *'it  contained  nothing  against  the  king's 
title,  and  that  he  had  it  not  from  Sir  Walter 
Raleigh,  but  took  it  from  his  table  when  he  was 
sleeping." 

Various  other  matters  were  now  introduced 
and  discussed;  but  as  they  had  no  vital  bearing 
upon  the  case,  it  would  be  tedious  to  describe 
them. 

Raleigh  repeatedly  insisted  that  the  only  im- 
portant witness  against  him  should  be  produced  in 
court.  The  final  dispute  about  this  is  thus  de- 
scribed by  Edwards : 

Coke.  ' '  He  is  a  party,  and  may  not  come. 
The  law  is  as^ainst  it." 


Pioneer  of  American  Colonization.     173 

Raleigh.  "It  is  a  toy  to  tell  me  of  law.  I  defy 
law.     I  stand  on  the  facts." 

Lord  Cecil.  **I  am  afraid  my  plain  speech, 
who  am  inferior  to  my  lords  here  in  presence, 
will  make  the  world  think  I  delight  to  hear  my- 
self talk.  My  affection  to  you,  Sir  Walter  Raleigh, 
has  not  extinguished,  but  slacked,  in  regard  of 
your  defects.  You  know  the  reason,  to  Avhich 
your  mind  doth  not  contest,  that  my  Lord  Cob- 
ham  can  not  be  brought." 

Raleigh.    ''He  may  be,  my  lord." 

Lord  Cecil.    "But  dare  you  challenge  it?" 

Raleigh.    "Now." 

Attorney  General  Coke.  "You  say  that  my  Lord 
Cobham,  your  main  accuser,  must  come  to  accuse 
you.  You  say  that  he  hath  retracted.  What  the 
validity  of  all  this  is,  is  merely  left  to  the  jury. 
Let  me  only  ask  you  this :  If  my  Lord  Cobham 
will  say  that  you  are  the  only  instigator  of  him  to 
proceed  in  the  treason,  dare  you  put  yourself  on 
this?" 

Raleigh.  "If  he  will  speak  it  before  God  and 
the  king,   that  even  I  knew  of  Arabella's  matter 


174  Sir  Walter  Raleigh. 

for  the  money  out  of  Spain,  or  of  the  'surprising 
treason,'  I  put  myself  on  it.  God's  will  and  the 
king's  be  done  with  me." 

Lord  Henry  Hotvard.  ' '  How  if  he  speak  things 
equivalent  to  what  you  have  said?" 

Raleigh.    "Yes,  in  a  main  point." 

Lo7'd  Cecil.  "If  he  say  you  have  been  the 
instigator  of  him  to  deal  with  the  Spanish 
king,  had  not  the  council  cause  to  draw  you 
hither?" 

Raleigh.    "I  put  myself  on  it." 

Lord  Cecil.  "Then  call  to  God,  Sir  Walter, 
and  prepare  yourself;  for  I  do  verily  believe  my 
lord  will  prove  this.  Excepting  your  fault,  1  am 
your  friend.  -  The  great  passion  in  you,  and  the 
attorney's  zeal  for  the  king's  service,  make  me 
speak  thus." 

Raleigh.  "Whosoever  is  the  workman,  it  is 
reason  he  should  give  account  of  his  work  to  the 
work -master.  But  let  it  be  proved  that  he  ac- 
quainted me  with  any  of  his  conference  with 
Aremberg." 

Lord  Cecil.    "That  follows  not.     If  I  set  you  a 


PiONKER  OF  American  Colonization.     175 

work,   and  you  give  me  no  account,  am  I  there- 
fore innocent  ?" 

Coke.  "For  Arabella,  I  have  said  that  she  was 
never  acquainted  with  the  matter.  Now, that  Ra- 
leigh hath  had  conference  in  all  these  treasons  it 
is  manifest.  The  jury  hath  heard  out  the  matter. 
There  is  one  Dyer,  a  pilot,  that,  being  in  Lisbon, 
met  with  a  Portuguese  gentleman,  who  asked  him 
if  the  King  of  England  was  crowned  yet.  To 
whom  he  answered,  'I  think  not  yet,  but  he 
shall  be  shordy.'  'Nay,'  saith  the  Portuguese, 
'  that  shall  never  be,  for  his  throat  will  be  cut  by 
Don  Raleigh  and  Don  Cobham,  before  he  be 
crowned.' " 

Hereupon  Dyer  was  called.  He  deposed  upon 
oath  to  the  hearing  of  these  words  in  a  conversa- 
tion at  Lisbon. 

Raleigh.    "What  inference  upon  that?" 
Coke.    "That  your  treason  hath  wings." 
Raleigh.    "If  Cobham  did  practice  with  Arem- 
berg,  how  could  it  n'ot  be  known  in  Spain  ?    Why 
did   they    name    the    Duke    of   Bucks    with    Jack 
Straw?     It  was  to  countenance  his  treasons." 


176  Sir  Walter  Raleigh. 

And  so  the  trial  went  on.  At  length  Cobham's 
letter  to  the  lords  was  read  to  the  court.  He 
begins  by  saying  that  he  read  two  letters  from 
Raleigh  in  the  Tower.  To  the  first  he  made 
no  answer;  to  the  second  he  replied  out  of 
pity  to  his  wife  and  children,  and  because  he 
was  put  in  hope  of  the  proceedings  against  him 
being  staid.  "With  the  like  truth,"  he  goes 
on  to  say,  "I  will  proceed  to  tell  you  my  deal- 
ings toward  Count  Aremberg  to  get  him  (that  is, 
Raleigh,)  a  pension  of  one  thousand  five  hundred 
pounds  per  annum  for  intelligence,  and  he  would 
always  tell  and  advertise  what  was  intended 
against  Spain,  for  the  Low  Countries,  or  with 
France.  And  coming  from  Greenwich  one  night, 
he  acquainted  me  with  what  was  agreed  betwixt 
the  king  and  the  Low  Countrymen,  that  I  should 
impart  it  to  Count  Aremberg.  But  upon  this  mo- 
tion for  one  thousand  five  hundi-ed  pounds  per  annum 
for  intelligence,  I  never  dealt  with  Count  Arem- 
berg. Now,  as  by  this  may  appear  to  your  lord- 
ships, he  hath  been  the  original  cause  of  my  ruin. 
For,    but  by  his  instigation,    I    had    never    dealt 


Pioneer  of  American  Colonization.     177 

with  Count  Aremberg.  And  so  he  hath  been 
the  only  cause  of  my  discontentment;  I  never 
coming  from  the  Count,  but  still  he  filled  and 
possessed  me  with  new  causes  of  discontentment. 
To  conclude :  in  his  last  letter  he  advised  me 
that  I  should  not  be  overtaken  by  confessing  to 
any  particular,  for  the  king  would  better  allow 
my  constant  denial  than  my  after-appealing.  For 
my  after-accusing  would  but  add  matter  to  my 
former  offense." 

Several  times  the  reading  of  this  confession 
and  accusation  was  interrupted  by  taunting  ex- 
clamations, such:  ''Is  not  this  a  Spanish  heart 
in  an  English  body !"  At, the  close  he  demanded 
of  Raleigh:   "What  say -.you  now  to  the  letter?" 

'*I  say,"  said  Raleigh,  ''that  Cobham  is  a 
base,  dishonorable,  poor  soul." 

"Is  he  base?"  said  Coke.  "I  return  it  into 
their  own  throat  in  his  behalf.  But  for  them  he 
had  been  a  good  subject." 

The  best  report  of  the  trial  puts  the  following 

in  the  mouth  of  Sir  Walter : 

"I   pray  you,  hear   me    in  a  word,   and   you 
12 


178  Sir  Walter  Raleigh. 

shall  see  how  many  souls  this  Cobham  hath.  And 
the  king  shall  judge  by  one  death  which  of  us  is 
the  perfidious  man.  Before  my  Lord  Cobham's 
coming  from  the  Tower,  I  was  advised  by  some 
of  my  friends  to  get  a  confession  from  him. 
Therefor  I  wrote  to  him  thus :  '  You  or  I  must 
go  to  trial.  If  I  first,  then  your  accusation  is 
the  only  evidence  against  me.'  It  was  not  ill  of 
me  to  beg  him  to  say  the  truth.  But  his  first 
letter  was  not  to  my  contenting.  I  writ  a  second, 
and  then  he  writ  me  a  very  good  letter.  But  I 
sent  him  word  I  feared  Mr.  Lieutenant  of  the 
Tower  might  be  blamed  if  it  was  discovered  that 
letters  had  passed.  Though  I  protest,  Sir  George 
Harvey  is  not  to  blame,  for  what  passed.  No 
keeper  in  the  world  could  so  provide  but  it  might 
happen.  So  I  sent  him  the  letter  again  with 
this :  '  It  is  likely  now  that  you  shall  be  the  first 
tried.'  But  the  Lord  Cobham  sent  to  me  again: 
'It  is  not  unfit  you  had  such  a  letter.'  And 
here  you  may  see  it,  and,  I  pray  you,  read  it." 
And  with  this  he  presented  the  letter. 

Lord  Cecil,   as  being  familiar  with    Cobham's 


Pioneer  of  American  Colonization.      179 

handwriting,  was  requested  by  Raleigh  to  read 
the  letter  aloud. 

"Now  that  the  arraignment  draws  near,  not 
knowing  which  shall  be  first,  I  or  you,  to  clear 
my  conscience,  satisfy  the  world,  and  free  my- 
self from  the  cry  of  your  blood,  I  protest  upon 
my  soul  and  before  God  and  his  angels,  I  never 
had  conference  with  you  in  any  treason,  nor 
was  ever  moved  by  you  to  the  things  I  heretofore 
accused  you  of.  And  for  any  thing  I  know,  you 
are  as  innocent  and  as  clear  of  any  treason 
against  the  king  as  is  any  subject  living.  There- 
fore I  wash  my  hands,  and  pronounce  '■Purus  sum 
a  sanguine  hujus.^  And  so  God  deal  with  me, 
and  have  mercy  on  my  soul,  as  this  is  true." 

This  being  read.  Sir  Walter  rose,  and  said : 

"Now,  my  masters,  you  have  heard  both. 
That  shewed  against  me  is  but  a  voluntary  con- 
fession; this  is  under  oath  and  the  deepest  pro- 
testations a  Christian  can  make.  Therefore  be- 
lieve which  of  these  hath  the  most  force." 

There  the  case  ended.  The  jury  retired  as 
usual  to  make  up  their  verdict.     To  the  surprise 


i8o  Sir  Walter  Raleigh. 

of  every  body,  they  returned  in  a  quarter  of  an 
hour,  and  brought  in  a  verdict  of  ''guilty  of 
treason."  It  was  evident  that  they  had  acted 
from  prejudice  rather  than  judgment,  for  the  case 
was  to  every  reflecting  and  candid  mind  one  of 
no  ordinary  difficulty.  Sir  Walter  had  not  been 
wholly  without  complicity  in  Cobham's  transac- 
tions; but  he  had  not  been  guilty  of  treason,  nor 
even  of  misprision  of  treason.  Coke  himself  was 
surprised  by  the  verdict  He  had  walked  out 
into  the  garden  when  the  jury  retired,  and  when 
the  verdict  was  mentioned  to  him,  he  declared 
his  astonishment,  for  he  had  not  really  meant  to 
charge  him  with  any  thing  more  than  ^^  misprision 
of  treason.''^  One  writer  reports  that  several  of 
the  jury  were  "so  touched  in  their  conscience" 
that  they  came  afterward  to  Sir  Walter,  and  on 
their  knees  confessed  their  injustice,  and  begged 
his  pardon.  Mrs.  Thompson  thinks  that  this  is 
not  likely,  "since  the  men  who  gave  such  a  ver- 
dict must  either  have  been  compelled  by  fear  or 
induced  by  bribery  to  compromise  their  sense  of 
justice,  and  either  of  these  motives  would  have 


Pioneer  of  American  Colonization.     i8i 

kept  them  silent  after  their  decision."  The  pris- 
oner received  the  verdict  coolly.  Upon  being 
asked,  according  to  the  forms  of  law,  what  he 
had  to  say  why  sentence  should  not  be  pronounced 
upon  him,  he  rose,  and  said : 

"My  lords,  the  jury  hath  found  me  guilty. 
They  must  do  as  they  are  directed.  I  can  say 
nothing  why  judgment  should  not  proceed.  You 
see  whereof  Cobham  hath  accused  me.  You  re- 
member his  protestation  that  I  was  never  guilty. 
I  desire  the  king  should  know  the  wrong  I  have 
been  subject  to  since  I  came  hither." 

The  chief-justice  said:  *'You  have  had  no 
wrong.  Sir  Walter." 

"Yes,"  said  Raleigh  of  the  attorney,  "I  de- 
sire the  lords  to  remember  these  things  to  the 
king.  I  was  accused  to  be  a  practicer  with 
Spain.  I  never  knew  that  Lord  Cobham  meant 
to  go  thither.  I  will  ask  no  mercy  at  the  king's 
hands  if  he  will  affirm  it.  Secondly,  I  never  knew 
of  the  practices  with  Arabella.  Thirdly,  I  never 
knew  of  my  Lord  Cobham's  practice  with  Arem- 
berg,  nor  of  the  'surprising*  treason." 


i82  Sir  Walter  Raleigh. 

The  chief-justice  then  made  a  long  and  abusive 
speech,  blaming  Raleigh's  not  confessing  any 
thing  as  an  inhuman  and  wicked  conceit,  and 
closing  with  sentencing  him  to  be  hanged  and 
afterward  beheaded.  Raleigh  then  turned  to  the 
Earl  of  Devonshire  and  other  lords,  and  solicited 
their  influence  with  the  king  to  change  the  mode 
of  his  death  to  one  less  ignominious.  He  also 
approached  Cecil  and  the  lay  commissioners,  and 
asked  them  to  have  Cobham  brought  first  to  the 
scaffold,  and  made  to  confront  him.  ''He  is  a 
false  and  cowardly  accuser.  He  can  face  neither 
me  nor  death  without  acknowledging  his  false- 
hood." He  was  then  conducted  back  to  the 
castle  to  await  the  final  decision  of  the  king  as 
to  the  execution  of  the  sentence. 

Sir  Roger  Orton,  a  Scotchman  in  the  service 
of  the  king,  brought  him  the  news  of  Raleigh's 
condemnation.  He  could  not  help  saying  that 
''never  had  man  spoken  so  well  in  times  past, 
nor  would  do  so  in  times  to  come."  Another 
Scotchman,  who  accompanied  Sir  Roger  to  the 
king,    declared    for   himself,    "that,    although    he 


Pioneer  of  American  Colonization.     183 

would  before  his  trial  have  gone  a  thousand  miles 
to  see  him  hanged,  he  would,  ere  he  parted, 
have  gone  a  thousand  miles  to  have  saved  his 
life."  This  honest  remark  expresses  the  feeling 
of  most  of  the  spectators  of  the  trial.  At  one 
time  Coke  was  hissed  as  he  uttered  his  coarse 
abuse;  and  Raleigh's  noble  bearing  under  provo- 
cation and  pathetic  appeals  to  the  jury  so  deeply 
affected  the  audience  and  revolutionized  their  feel- 
ings, that  one  present  remarked,  ''Never  was  a 
man  so  hated  and  so  popular  in  so  short  a  time." 
The  trial  of  Cobham  came  next  in  order.  The 
reading  of  the  indictment  was  interrupted  by  his 
occasional  denial  of  several  particulars,  and  he 
charged  Raleigh  with  exciting  discontent  in  his 
mind,  but  denied  any  treasonable  intentions.  He 
admitted  the  truth  of  his  first  confession,  and 
made  a  merit  of  it,  and  a  plea  for  pardon.  When 
asked  about  his  contradictory  letters  respecting 
Raleigh^s  complicity  in  his  crime,  he  affirmed  the 
truth  of  the  first  letter,  in  which  he  condemned 
Raleigh.  The  trial  occupied  but  little  time,  and 
he  was  pronounced  guilty  of  treason. 


184  Sir  Walter  Raleigh. 


dVaptef  XV. 

EXECUTION  OF  THE  PRISONERS  WATSON,  CLARKE,  AND 
BROOKE — THE  KING'S  MANEUVERS  IN  REGARD  TO  THE 
FATE    OF    RALEIGH,  COBHAM,  GREY,  AND    MARKHAM  . 

Tn?ARLY  in  December,  1603,  the  authors  of 
-* — ^  the  '' surprise"  plots,  Watson,  Clarke,  and 
Brooke,  were  executed  at  Winchester.  They 
were  hung  until  nearly  dead,  then  cut  down  and 
beheaded,  then  drawn  and  quartered,  according 
to  the  barbaric  usage  of  those  times.  Clarke 
justified  the  part  he  had  taken  in  the  movement, 
but  Watson  confessed  his  guilt,  and  acknowl- 
edged the  justice  of  his  punishment.  Brooke 
spoke  mysteriously  of  some  hidden  cause  of  his 
course  of  conduct,  saying  with  his  last  breath : 
"There  is  somewhat  hidden  that  will  one  day 
appear  for  my  justification."  This  statement  pro- 
duced much  alarm  at  first  among  the  courtiers; 
but  nothing  appeared  to  explain  it,  and  the  sen- 


Pioneer  of  American  Colonization.     185 

sation  passed  away.  While  in  prison  he  con- 
fessed to  the  bishop  who  administered  to  him  the 
last  sacrament  that  he  had  falsely  accused  his 
brother  and  Sir  Walter  Raleigh. 

While  waiting  in  prison  the  time  appointed  for 
his  execution,  Raleigh's  friends  made  the  most 
earnest  exertions  to  procure  his  pardon  from  tlie 
king.  The  beloved  wife  of  Raleigh  wrote  to 
Cecil,  and  visited  him,  and  on  her  knees  en- 
treated his  influence  in  favor  of  her  husband. 
The  Countess  of  Pembroke  entreated  her  son  as 
he  valued  a  mother's  blessing  to  exert  himself  in 
every  possible  way  to  save  the  life  of  Sir  Walter, 
The  lords  of  the  council  who  had  judged  him 
united  in  petitioning  the  king  to  show  mercy 
in  this  beginning  of  his  reign,  and  to  "gain  the 
tide  of  Clemens  as  well  as  of  Justus."  Sir  Walter 
himself  wrote  letters  to  the  king  and  to  the  lords 
of  the  council,  begging  for  his  life  in  terms  so 
humble  and  even  abject,  that  he  afterward  was 
ashamed  of  it,  and  wrote  to  his  wife,  "Get  those 
letters,  if  it  be  possible,  which  I  wrote  to  the 
lords,  wherein  I  sued  for  life.     God  knows  it  was 


1 86  Sir  Walter  Raleigh. 

for  you  and  yours  that  I  desired  it.  But  it  is  true 
that  I  disdain  myself  for  begging  it." 

Queen  Anne,  and  both  the  French  and  Spanish 
embassadors,  besought  the  king  to  show  mercy 
to  the  prisoners,  and  even  bribes  were  given  to 
leading  politicians,  according  to  the  corrupt  usage 
of  the  age,  to  purchase  their  interposition. 

But  no  word  or  sign  came  from  the  king  to 
inspire  hope.  The  clergymen  who  visited  the  pris- 
oners in  the  exercise  of  their  spiritual  functions, 
were  instructed  to  prepare  them  for  death.  One 
of  the  king's  chaplains,  preaching  at  Wilton  before 
the  king  and  court,  declared  that  clemency  to  trai- 
tors was  a  sin  against  God  and  the  state.  He 
could  not  have  done  a  better  thing  to  induce  James 
to  exercise  the  mercy  he  deprecated,  for  he  loved 
to  show  himself  independent  and  self-moved  in  all 
his  official  acts.  He  went  from  the  chapel,  and 
wrote  a  warrant  to  stay  the  execution;  but  he 
kept  it  in  his  own  hands.  The  next  day  he 
signed  the  death  warrants  of  Markham,  Grey, 
and  Cobham,  and  sent  them  to  the  sheriff  at 
Winchester,  to  be  executed  two  days  after  that. 


Pioneer  of  American  Colonization.     187 

Friday,  December  10,  1603,  the  day  fixed  for  the 
execution.  Raleigh's  execution  was  fixed  for 
Monday,  the  13th  of  December. 

Markham  was  first  brought  forward  for  execu- 
tion. He  had  cherished  hopes  of  a  reprieve  or  par- 
don, but  the  day  before  his  advices  extinguished 
them  altogether,  and  he  appeared  on  the  scaffold 
deeply  distressed  in  mind,  but  undaunted.  A  friend 
offered  him  a  napkin,  to  conceal  his  face,  but  he 
declined  it,  saying,  ' '  I  can  look  upon  death  with- 
out blushing."  He  said  that  he  had  been  so  led  to 
cherish  hopes  of  pardon  that  he  had  not  given 
sufficient  attention  to  preparing  himself  for  death. 
but  now  he  bade  his  friends  adieu,  and,  having 
knelt  for  some  time  in  prayer,  he  prepared  him- 
self for  the  executioner. 

As  Raleigh  looked  from  the  window  of  the 
prison,  to  witness  the  fate  of  those  who  were  to 
precede  him,  he  observed  the  sheriff  to  pause  and 
turn  toward  a  magistrate  pushing  his  way  through 
the  crowd.  It  was  Sir  James  Hayes,  who  had 
received  from  a  messenger  a  letter  containing  the 
king's    warrant    for    a    stay    of   execution.      The 


1 88  Sir  Walter  Raleigh. 

sheriff  then  turned  to  the  prisoner,  standing  over 
the  block,  and  said:  "You  say  that  you  are  not 
prepared  to  die!  You  shall  have  two  hours' 
respite."  He  was  then  led  from  the  scaffold  into 
a  hall,  called  Arthur's  Hall,  and  locked  in  by 
himself,  without  any  explanation  of  the  mystery 
of  his  reprieve.  It  was  the  conceit  of  the  small- 
minded  king  to  punish  the  prisoners  with  the 
terrors  of  death,  and  then  to  commute  the  sen- 
tence to  imprisonment 

The  next  scene  in  this  "comedy,"  as  it  has 
been  styled,  was  the  appearance  of  Lord  Grey, 
who  was  brought  forth  by  the  sheriff  to  go  through 
the  same  experience,  without  knowing  what  had 
happened.  The  young  and  popular  nobleman 
was  surrounded  by  friends,  who  came  to  cheer 
his  last  moments;  and  he  appeared  like  one  going 
to  his  marriage,  rather  than  to  his  execution.  He 
made  a  long  prayer,  in  which  he  protested  to 
God  his  innocence  of  treason,  but  confessed  that 
he  deserved  to  die  for  his  plotting  against  the 
king.  The  sheriff  waited  for  him  to  finish  his 
prayer,   and  then  stepped  up  to  him  and,  to  his 


Pioneer  of  American  Colonization.     189 

surprise,  told  him  that  the  king  had  sent  word 
that  Cobham  should  precede  him,  and  that  he 
was  to  wait  for  a  time.  He  was  then  conducted 
into  Arthur's  Hall,  where,  to  his  astonishment,  he 
found  Markham. 

Cobham  now  appeared,  attended  by  a  minister. 
He  showed  no  dismay  at  the  prospect  of  death, 
but  he  repeated  the  prayers  of  the  minister  with 
special  earnestness.  He  then  expressed  sorrow 
for  his  offense,  and  reiterated  his  accusation  of 
Raleigh,  saying,  "It  is  true,  as  I  have  hope  of 
my  soul's  resurrection."  He  was  then  told  that 
he  was,  by  the  king's  orders,  to  be  confronted 
with  some  other  prisoners. 

Presently  the  sheriff  had  Grey  and  Markham 
brought  out  and  placed  before  him.  He  then 
addressed  the  group:  "Are  not  your  offenses 
grievous?  Have  you  not  been  justly  tried  and 
condemned?  Is  not  each  of  you  subject  to  due 
execution,  now  to  be  performed?"  The  prisoners 
assented  to  the  accusations.  "Now,  then,"  said 
the  sheriff,  "see  the  mercy  of  your  prince,  who 
of  himself  hath   sent   hither   a   countermand,   and 


ipo  Sir  Walier  Raleigh. 

hath  given  you  your  lives !"  Upon  this  being 
announced,  the  crowd  about  the  scaffold  ap- 
plauded long  and  lustily.  The  sentence  of  death 
was  commuted  to  imprisonment  for  life,  or  during 
the  pleasure  of  the  king. 

At  the  court  in  Wilton  the  king,  as  a  part  of 
this  comic  tragedy,  addressed  his  courtiers  on  the 
crimes  and  characters  of  the  prisoners,  and  con- 
cluded by  saying  that,  as  he  could  not  show 
mercy  to  one  without  partiality,  he  concluded 
to  "save  the  lives  of  them  all." 

Sir  Walter  Raleigh,  for  some  reason,  was 
spared  the  ignominy  and  agony  of  this  mock 
execution.  He  remained  at  Winchester  a  month, 
and  was  then  returned  to  the  Tower,  under  the 
guard  of  Sir  WilHam  Wade.  Sir  George  Harvey 
was  still  the  lieutenant  of  tlie  To^ver,  and  held 
the  office  until  August,  1605.  This  officer  seems 
to  have  treated  his  prisoner  with  all  proper  re- 
spect and  kindness.  He  was  not  shut  up,  as  a 
recent  historian  pictures,  in  a  cell  ten  feet  by 
eight,  without  even  a  window  to  let  in  the  light 
of  day;    but   he  had  a  decent  chamber,  open  to 


Pioneer  of  American  Colonization.     191 

the  garden  of  the  lieutenant,  of  which  he  had  the 
freedom,  at  least  during  the  day.  He  was  allowed 
the  company  of  his  wife  and  son,  young  Walter; 
also  the  frequent  attendance  of  his  servants,  the 
visits  of  his  physicians,  and  of  his  clerical  friend, 
Rev.  Gilbert  Hawthorne.  He  had  permission 
occasionally  to  visit  the  cells  of  other  prisoners, 
and  especially  Cobham's  apartment,  near  by.  He 
had  the  use  of  his  library,  and  he  constructed  a 
rude  chemical  laboratory  out  of  the  hen-house  in 
the  garden,  where  he  spent  much  of  his  time  in 
experiments,  and,  it  is  said,  obtained  some  celeb- 
rity for  various  nostrums  invented  by  him. 

One  of  his  nostrums  was  like  to  have  involved 
him  in  trouble.  One  day  the  Countess  of  Beau- 
mont made  a  visit  to  the  Tower,  and,  among 
other  places,  called  at  the  garden,  and  asked  Sir 
Walter  to  furnish  her  with  some  of  his  *' Balsam 
of  Guiana."  This  was  sent  to  her  by  one  Captain 
Whitlocke,  who  was  seen  in  her  train  that  day. 
This  gentleman  was  a  retainer  of  the  Earl  of 
Northumberland,  who  was  afterward  connected 
with  the  Gunpowder  Plot;  and  this  circumstance 


192  Sir  Walter  Raleigh. 

gave  rise  to  a  suspicion  that  Sir  Walter  was 
knowing  to  that  conspiracy.  He  was  brought 
before  the  lords  and  examined,  but  was  acquitted. 
Besides  his  favorite  recreations,  music  and 
painting,  he  devoted  his  time  to  reading  and 
writing.  The  most  important  of  all  his  produc- 
tions during  his  long  imprisonment  was  the  "  His- 
tory of  the  World."  A  part  of  this  was  published 
1604.  The  second  volume,  in  a  fit  of  passion,  he 
destroyed.  One  day  his  publisher,  Walter  Burse, 
was  asked  how  the  work  sold.  He  answered, 
"So  slowly  that  it  has  undone  me."  Whereupon 
Sir  Walter,  taking  the  second  volume  from  the 
shelf,  said,  "The  second  volume  shall  undo  ye  no 
more;  this  ungrateful  world  is  unworthy  of  it." 
He  then  threw  it  into  the  fire.  "Both  in  style 
and  matter,"  says  a  writer  in  Chambers's  Encyclo- 
poedia,  "this  celebrated  work  is  vastly  superior  to 
all  the  English  historical  productions  which  had 
previously  appeared.  Its  style,  though  partaking 
of  the  faults  of  the  age,  in  being  frequently  stiff  and 
inverted,  has  less  of  those  defects  than  the  diction 
of  any  other  writer  of  the  time.      Mr.  Tytler  with 


Pioneer  of  American  Colonization.     193 

justice  commends  it  as  vigorous,  purely  English, 
and  possessing  an  antique  richness  of  ornament, 
similar  to  what  pleases  us  when  we  see  some  ancient 
priory  or  stately  manor-mansion,  and  compare  it 
Avith  our  more  modern  mansions.  The  work  is 
laborious  without  being  heavy,  learned  without 
being  dry,  acute  and  ingenious  without  degener- 
ating into  the  subtle  but  trivial  distinctions  of  the 
schoolmen.  Its  narration  is  clear  and  spirited, 
and  the  matter  collected  from  the  most  authentic 
sources.  The  opinions  of  the  author  upon  state 
policy,  on  the  causes  of  great  events,  on  the  dif- 
ferent forms  of  government,  on  naval  and  military 
tactics,  on  agriculture,  commerce,  manufactures, 
and  other  sources  of  national  greatness,  are  not 
the  mere  echo  of  other  minds,  but  the  results  of 
experience  drawn  from  the  study  of  a  long  life, 
spent  in  constant  action  and  vicissitude,  in  vari- 
ous climates  and  countries,  and  from  personal 
labor  in  offices  of  high  trust  and  responsibility. 
But  perhaps  its  most  striking  feature  is  the  sweet 
tone  of  philosophic  melancholy  which  pervades 
the  whole.  Written  in  prison  during  the  quiet 
13 


194  Sir  Walter  Raleigh. 

evening  of  a  tempestuous  life,  we  feel  in  its  peru- 
sal that  we  are  the  companions  of  a  superior 
mind,  nursed  in  contemplation  and  chastened 
and  improved  by  sorrow,  in  which  the  bitter  rec- 
ollections of  injury  and  the  asperity  of  resentment 
have  passed  away,  leaving  only  the  heavenly 
lesson  that  all  is  vanity." 

Why  this  valuable  and  eloquent  history  did 
not  sell  can  not  be  explained.  It  shared  the  fate 
of  many  other  productions  of  genius  which  con- 
temporaries have  left  to  after  times  to  appreciate. 

Besides  this,  Raleigh  composed  treatises  enti- 
tled:  "Discourses  on  the  Match  with  Savoy;" 
**  Treatise  on  the  Art  of  War  by  Sea,  Ancient 
and  Modern;"  ''Discourses  of  the  Invention  of 
Ships;"  "Observations  Concerning  the  Royal 
Navy."  The  first  of  this  list  was  written  by  the 
request  of  Prince  Henry,  the  heir-apparent  of  the 
English  throne,  on  the  occasion  of  the  Spanish 
embassador  proposing  to  the  king  to  marry  his 
daughter  to  the  eldest  son  of  the  Duke  of  Savoy, 
and  his  son,  Prince  Henry,  to  a  daughter  of  the 
same  prince.     Raleigh  gave  good  and  substantial 


Pioneer  of  American  Colonization.     195 

reasons  why  this  twofold  match  should  not  be 
made;  and  by  so  doing  he  incurred  the  displeas- 
ure of  the  king  and  some  of  his  advisers.  He 
forfeited  also  some  of  his  privileges  at  the  Tower; 
and  was  placed  under  close  imprisonment  for 
three  months.  Prince  Henry,  however,  was  his 
fast  friend,  and  gave  every  encouragement  to  his 
literary  labors. 

Such  was  Sir  Walter's  condition  for  twelve 
long,  weary  years.  As  to  the  other  prisoners, 
Lord  Grey  died  in  the  Tower  in  1614;  and  Cob- 
ham,  after  remaining  about  the  same  length  of 
time  in  prison,  was  set  at  liberty,  to  pass  a  few 
more  wretched  years  in  poverty,  neglect,  and  dis- 
grace, and  to  die  in  a  garret.  While  yet  in 
prison,  he  confessed  the  falsity  of  his  accusation 
of  Raleigh,  when  Queen  Anne  contrived  to  have 
him  examined  again  under  oath.  He  lived  long 
enough  to  see  the  sad  doom  of  his  victim,  and 
soon  after  passed  to  his  account  before  the  Great 
Judge.  As  it  respects  Markham,  the  author  has 
no  knowledge  of  what  happened  to  him  after  his 
removal  to  the  Tower. 


196  Sir  Walter  Raleigh. 


dl^kptef    XVI. 

DEATH  OF  CECIL  AND  PRINCE   HENRY — RALEIGH   RELEASED 

FROM  THE  TOWER — PROJECTS  ANOTHER 

EXPEDITION  TO  GUIANA. 

T3  OBERT  CECIL,  Lord  Treasurer  of  the 
-■-^  Government  of  James  I,  was  the  second 
son  of  William  Cecil,  Lord  Burleigh,  the  wise  and 
successful  leader  of  the  previous  reign.  He  was 
of  a  delicate  and  somewhat  deformed  frame,  but 
with  a  mind  keen,  alert,  and  fruitful.  He  grad- 
uated at  the  Cambridge  University.  His  first  im- 
portant office  under  the  government  of  Elizabeth 
was  as  assistant  to  the  embassador  to  France, 
Lord  Derby.  In  1596  he  was  made  one  of  the 
secretaries  of  state,  and  finally  he  became  the 
principal  secretary  and  privy  councilor  to  the 
queen.  He  secretly  favored  the  claim  of  James 
to  the  succession.  One  day,  traveling  with  the 
queen,  he  received  dispatches  from  the  Scottish 


Pioneer  of  American  Colonization.     197 

court,  and  upon  being  asked  about  it  by  her,  he 
pretended  that  it  pertained  to  some  of  his  private 
affairs,  and  eluded  her  vigilance.  On  the  acces- 
sion of  James  he  was  continued  in  his  office. 
Though  in  person  he  was  not  such  as  the  weak- 
minded  king  liked  to  have  around  him,  the 
charms  of  his  eloquence,  his  penetrating  and 
comprehensive  intellect,  and  the  substantial  in- 
tegrity of  his  moral  character  won  for  him  the 
royal  confidence.  He  was  successively  made  a 
baron,  Viscount  of  Cranbourn,  and  Earl  of  Salis- 
bury. He  was  chosen  chancellor  of  Cambridge 
University,  and  in  1608  lord  high  treasurer.  He 
was  a  friend  of  Raleigh  when  Sir  Walter  was  the 
favorite  of  Elizabeth,  and  he  always  pretended 
to  be,  though  he  took  the  part  of  the  king  in  his 
disgrace  and  condemnation.  He  was  in  religious 
sentiment  inclined  to  Puritanism.  In  161 2  his 
health  gave  way,  and  on  his  journey  to  London 
from  Bath,  where  he  had  in  vain  sought  relief  in 
its  mineral  springs  from  complicated  diseases,  he 
died  at  Marlborough  on  the  28th  of  May.  He 
A^elcomed  death  as  the  great  release  from  care  and 


198  Sir  V/alter  Raleigh. 

trouble.  "Ease  and  pleasure  quake  to  hear  of 
death,"  he  said;  "but  my  life,  full  of  cares  and 
miseries,  desireth  to  be  dissolved."  His  last 
hours  were  employed  in  devotion,  and  such  was 
his  expression  of  hope  and  trust  in  the  Redeemer 
that  it  shed  around  his  dying  bed  on  the  minds 
of  all  who  attended  him  a  twilight  of  immortality. 
The  death  of  Cecil  removed  one  obstacle  to 
the  pardon  and  release  of  Raleigh,  for  he  be- 
lieved that  the  judgment  against  him  was  just, 
and  so  advised  the  king  not  to  accede  to  the  pe- 
titions of  distinguished  friends,  including  Queen 
Anne,  who  were  interested  in  his  favor.  Only  six 
months  after  this  event  the  death  of  Raleigh's 
friend,  Prince  Henry,  brought  a  deeper  cloud  over 
his  prospects.  This  young  man  possessed  superior 
qualities  of  mind  and  heart.  He  was  the  idol  of 
his  mother;  but  his  father's  heart  was  made  cold 
toward  him  by  the  difference  of  their  views  in 
regard  to  matters  of  state  policy,  and  by  his 
growing  popularity.  Early  in  the  Fall  he  began 
to  complain  of  giddiness  in  the  head,  attended 
with  pain.     He  resorted  as  a  remedy  to  traveling 


Pioneer  of  American  Colonization,     i 


99 


about  from  place  to  place;  but  without  success. 
Drowsiness  and  coldness  in  the  head  and  the 
pallor  of  his  countenance  indicated  that  his  end 
was  approaching.  On  his  last  appearing  at  public 
worship,  the  text  was  ominous  of  his  destiny: 
''Man  that  is  born  of  a  woman  is  of  few  days 
and  full  of  trouble  •  he  cometh  forth  like  a  flower, 
and  is  cut  down :  he  fleeth  also  as  a  shadow,  and 
continueth  not."  (Job  xiv,  i,  2.)  Some  weeks 
before  his  death  he  went  down  to  Woolwich  to  wit- 
ness, in  company  with  his  mother,  the  launching 
of  a  ship  built  for  him  on  a  plan  suggested  by 
Raleigh,  and  called  after  him  ''The  Prince:'' 
The  launch  was  not  successful  at  the  first;  but 
subsequent  trials  sent  her  forth  on  her  mission. 
And  she  was  destined  to  do  a  good  service  for 
the  royal  family,  for  it  was  in  that  ship  Prince 
Charles  outrode  the  fearful  gale  which  swept  many 
feeble  craft  to  destruction. 

As  Prince  Henry  drew  near  his  end,  Raleigh 
was  applied  to  by  the  queen  for  a  cordial  he  had 
invented  in  die  Tower,  and  which  had  gi  /en  her 
relief  in  a  se\.ire  illness,  and  had  \  great  reputa- 


200  Sir  Walter  Raleigh. 

tion  and  run  in  the  land.  Raleigh  sent  it  with 
the  remark  that  it  would  cure  the  prince  or  any 
one  of  a  fever  if  not  poisoned.  Such  Avas  the 
credulity  of  those  times  in  respect  to  the  efficacy 
of  specific  doses.  But  the  disease  of  the  prince 
had  too  far  progressed  for  any  earthly  relief.  All 
the  effect  it  had  was  to  soothe  his  sufferings  and 
procure  sleep.  The  queen  was  compelled  to 
witness  the  death  of  her  noble  son,  and  she  be- 
lieved to  her  dying  day  that  he  was  the  victim 
of  poison.  Various  stories  w- ere  circulated ;  some 
said  that  he  was  poisoned  by  a  bunch  of  grapes, 
some  by  poisoned  gloves.  His  chaplain  hesi- 
tated not  to  declare  his  belief  in  the  truth  of 
these  rumors.  Suspicion  fell  upon  Robert  Car, 
Viscount  Rochester,  the  king's  favorite,  upon  the 
Spaniards,  the  Catholics,  and  even  upon  King 
James  himself.  The  queen  believed  that  Car 
was  the  instigator  of  his  death,  and  refused 
to  see  him  ever  after.  That  he  was  capable  of 
so  great  a  crime  was  proved  by  his  poisoning 
two  years  afterward  the  food  of  Sir  Thomas  Over- 
bury  in  the  Tower,  as  was  proved  by  the  apothe- 


Pioneer  of  American  Colonization.     201 

Gary's  clerk  who  prepared  the  last  fatal  dose  for 
the  unhappy  prisoner. 

The  death  of  Prince  Henry  put  an  end  to  Sir 
Walter's  expectation  of  a  speedy  release  from 
the  Tower.  That  brave  and  amiable  youth  had 
ventured  to  urge  this  favor  with  his  eccentric 
father,  and  had  prevailed  so  far  as  to  get  the 
promise  of  it  by  the  next  Christmas;  but  the 
merry  bells  of  Christmas  were  sounded  over  his 
grave,  and  tlie  promise  of  the  king  was  buried 
with  him.  The  queen  remained  his  friend,  and 
in  1614  her  intercessions  on  the  plea  of  Raleigh's 
failing  health  in  confinement  procured  for  him  the 
liberty  of  tlie  Tower,  that  is,  permission  to  go 
about  it  for  recreation  without  leaving  its  walls. 

During  tliis  year  he  was  afflicted  by  the  flight 
of  his  son  Walter  to  Netherlands,  to  avoid  the 
consequences  of  a  duel  he  had  with  Robert  Tyr- 
whit,  an  attache  of  the  Earl  of  Suffolk,  then  the 
lord  high  treasurer  succeeding  Cecil.  The  affair 
blew  over  soon,  and  Walter  returned  to  England. 

The  time  was  now  at  hand  when  Raleigh  was 
to  once   more  enjoy  liberty  and  the  privilege  of 


202  Sir  Walter  Raleigh. 

serving  his  country.  The  unprincipled  Car  was 
succeeded  as  favorite  of  the  king  by  George 
Vilhers,  afterward  Duke  of  Buckingham.  To 
this  young  man  as  gentleman  of  the  bed-chamber, 
having  the  ear  of  the  king,  Raleigh  made  over- 
tures for  his  liberation.  These  he  backed  up  by 
the  influence  of  the  mother  of  Villiers,  and  by 
his  uncles,  Sir  William  and  Sir  Edward,  whose 
efforts  he  purchased,  according  to  the  corrupt 
custom  of  the  times,  by  the  payment  of  one 
thousand  five  hundred  pounds.  He  had  also 
favorably  impressed  the  king's  ministers,  espe- 
cially Sir  Ralph  Winwood,  Secretary  of  State, 
with  his  project  of  a  second  expedition  to  Guiana. 
He  had  during  his  imprisonment  sent  a  vessel 
every  year  to  Guiana  to  assure  the  natives  of  the 
favor  and  protection  of  the  English  against  the 
Spanish  colonies.  He  believed  he  was  doing  a 
great  service  to  the  king,  and  he  longed  to  be 
free  to  show  his  loyalty  by  such  ''service  as  had 
seldom  be^n  performed  for  any  king."  The  long- 
desired  order  for  his  liberation  was  sent  by  the 
king  on  the  30th  of  January,   16 16.     He  was  al- 


Pioneer  of  American  Colonization.     203 

lowed  to  reside  at  his  own  house,  but  was  under 
the  surveillance  of  a  keeper.  On  the  19th  of 
March  the  privy  council  wrote  to  him,  giving 
permission  to  undertake  measures  for  the  Guiana 
expedition  in  the  following  terms: 

"His  majesty,  out  of  his  gracious  inclinations 
toward  you,  being  pleased  to  release  you  out 
of  your  imprisonment  in  the  Tower  to  go  abroad 
with  a  keeper  to  make  your  provisions  for  your 
intended  voyage,  we  think  it  good  to  admonish 
you  (though  we  do  not  prejudicate  your  own  dis- 
cretion so  much  as  to  think  you  would  attempt  it 
without  leave)  that  you  should  not  presume  to 
resort  either  to  his  majesty's  court,  the  queen's, 
or  prince's,  nor  go  into  any  public  assemblies 
wheresoever,  without  especial  license  obtained 
from  his  majesty  for  your  warrant.  But  only 
that  you  use  the  benefit  of  his  majesty's  grace 
to  follow  the  business  which  you  are  to  under- 
take, and  for  which,  upon  your  humble  request, 
his  majesty  hath  been  graciously  pleased  to  grant 
you  that  pardon." 

Was   ever   a    condemned    criminal    before    or 


2  04  Sir  Walter  Raleigh. 

since  employed  by  any  government  to  take  charge 
of  an  important  enterprise  for  the  benefit  of  the 
nation  before  pardon  had  been  given  him,  and 
while  he  was  under  the  oversight  of  a  keeper? 
Just  such  was  the  intolerable  meanness  of  King 
James.  His  purpose  was  to  let  this  great  adven- 
turer make  an  experiment  to  find  the  gold  mines 
of  South  America.  If  he  succeeded,  the  king 
would  be  made  rich;  if  he  did  not  succeed,  he 
should  lose  his  head.  Sir  Walter  was  anxious 
about  getting  his  pardon  before  he  set  forth,  and 
consulted  with  Lord  Bacon  in  regard  to  it;  but 
Bacon  assured  him  that  it  was  not  necessary,  for 
pardon  was  implied  in  his  appointment  as  ad- 
miral of  the  fleet  and  commander  of  the  expedi- 
tion. Time  will  show  how  this  was  understood 
by  the  king. 

Before  Raleigh  left  the  Tower,  two  events  took 
place  of  deepest  interest  to  him — the  death  of 
Lady  Arabella  Stuart  and  the  imprisonment  of 
Robert  Car,  Earl  of  Somerset,  to  whom  the  king 
had  given  Sherborne,  the  forfeited  estate  of  Ra- 
leigh,  saying   to    those    who   objected,    "I  maun 


Pioneer  of  American  Colonization.     205 

have  it  for  Car."  "The  whole  history  of  the 
world,"  said  Raleigh,  "had  not  a  like  precedent 
of  a  king's  prisoner  to  purchase  freedom,  and  his 
bosom  favorite  to  have  the  halter,  but  in  Scrip- 
ture, in  the  case  of  Mordecai  and  Haman."  As  to 
poor  Lady  Arabella,  whose  only  crime  was  that 
she  had  royal  blood  in  her  veins,  being  the  grand- 
daughter of  Henry  VII,  and  next  to  James  in 
the  line  of  succession  to  the  throne  of  England, 
she  was  not  proved  to  have  any  participation  in 
the  conspiracy  of  Cobham  and  others  to  place 
her  on  the  throne,  and  was  left  at  liberty.  But 
subsequently  it  was  discovered  that  she  had  se- 
cretly married  the  grandson  of  the  Earl  of  Hert- 
ford, and  for  that  she  and  her  husband  were  sent 
to  the  Tower.  In  the  course  of  the  year  they 
escaped;  but  Arabella  was  captured,  and  taken 
back  to  prison.  These  troubles  wrought  upon 
her  mind,  and  deprived  her  of  her  reason.  At 
her  death,  in  September,  161 5,  she  was  thirty- 
eight  years  of  age. 


2o6  Sir  Walter  Raleigh. 


C;i|kf)tei^  XVII. 

THE  GUIANA   EXPEDITION. 

\T  TITH  characteristic  alacrity  and  devotion 
^  ^  to  business,  Sir  Walter  Raleigh  began 
his  preparations  for  the  voyage.  For  this  pur- 
pose he  called  in  a  loan  of  eight  thousand 
pounds  to  the  Countess  of  Bedford,  and  added 
two  thousand  five  hundred  pounds  from  the  sale 
of  Lady  Raleigh's  estate  at  Mitch  am  in  Surrey, 
which  she  freely  contributed  for  her  husband's 
sake.  His  friends,  among  whom  were  the  Earls 
of  Huntingdon  and  Arundel,  and  some  merchants, 
chiefly  foreigners,  took  shares  in  the  enterprise; 
but  no  pecuniary  aid  was  given  by  the  govern- 
ment. A  commission  was  given,  August  26,  16 16, 
to  Sir  Walter,  constituting  him  admiral  of  the 
fleet.  Authority  was  given  him  ''to  carry  for 
the  voyage  to  Guiana  so  many  of  the  British  sub- 
jects as  should  willingly  accompany  him,  with  an 


Pioneer  of  American  Colonization.     207 

unlimited  supply  of  arms,  ammunition,  ships,  etc." 
Also  to  trade  with  the  natives,  and  to  bring  home 
gold,  silver,  etc.,  'Tor  the  proper  use  of  Sir 
Walter  Raleigh  and  his  company,  reserving  to 
the  king  and  his  heirs  one-fifth  only  of  such  im- 
portations." Raleigh  was  also  constituted  general 
and  commander  of  the  enterprise,  governor  of  the 
new  country,  with  the  privilege  of  exercising 
martial  law,  in  a  similar  manner  to  the  county 
lieutenants  of  England,  or  to  the  heutenant-gen- 
eral  of  land  or  sea  forces.  It  is  said  that  the 
document  began  in  the  usual  way,  with  the 
words,  *'To  our  trusty  and  well  beloved  knight, 
Sir  Walter  Raleigh;"  and  it  was  pleaded  after- 
ward that  these  words  implied  a  pardon  from 
the  king. 

On  the  28th  of  March,  16 18,  the  fleet  was 
ready  to  sail.  It  consisted  of  seven  vessels  as  it 
proceeded  down  the  Thames,  and  at  Plymouth  it 
was  joined  by  four  more,  making  eleven  sail. 
Walter  Raleigh,  Jr.,  was  made  captain  of  the  flag- 
ship, the  Destiny.  The  other  captains  were.  Sir 
John  Feme,  Lawrence  Keymis,  Wallaston,  Chad- 


2o8  Sir  Walter  Raleigh. 

leigh,  and  Pennington.  A  carvel  and  two  fly- 
boats  were  added  to  the  fleet  at  Plymouth.  The 
admiral's  flag-ship  was  four  hundred  and  fifty  tons 
burden,  and  carried  thirty-six  guns.  Besides  the 
crew,  there  were  on  board  two  hundred  volun- 
teers, eighty  of  whom  were  gentlemen.  A  large 
part  of  the  company  in  the  different  ships  were 
of  a  low  and  dissolute  character,  whose  native 
land  furnished  them  no  prospect  of  success,  and 
whose  friends  were  only  too  glad  to  get  rid  of 
ihem,  "at  the  hazard,"  as  Raleigh  said,  ''of  some 
thirty,  forty,  or  sixty  pounds,  knowing  that  they 
could  not  live  so  cheaply  at  home."  To  this 
mixed  company  Raleigh  published  his  Orders, 
which  a  contemporary  writer  described  as  admi- 
rable, "fit  to  be  written  and  engraven  in  every 
man's  soul  that  covets  to  do  honor  to  his  king 
and  country."  Among  the  regulations  was  a 
requisite  of  morning  and  evening  worship,  to  be 
omitted  only  in  foul  weather,  when  a  psalm  should 
be  sung  at  the  setting  of  the  evening  watch.  He 
reminded  his  followers  that  "no  enterprise  can 
prosper,  be  it  by  land  or  sea,   without  the  favor 


Pioneer  of  American  Colonization.     209 

and  assistance  of  Almighty  God,  the  Lord  and 
Strength  of  hosts  and  armies." 

The  prayers  and  good  wishes  of  numerous 
friends  attended  the  departure  of  the  fleet;  but 
some  friends  prophesied  evil  would  come  to  it. 
They  knew  that  he  had  undertaken  it  from  a  de- 
sire to  conciliate  the  king,  more  than  from  any 
spirit  of  enterprise,  and  they  could  not  suppress 
the  foreboding  of  disappointment. 

Sylvanus   Scory    sent   him,   from   London,   the 

following  lines,  to  cheer  and  assure  him : 

"Raleigh,  in  this  thyself  thyself  transcends, 
When  hourly  tasting  of  a  bitter  chalice, 
Scanning  the  sad  faces  of  thy  friends, 

Thou  smil'st  at  Fortune's  menaces  and  malice. 

Hold  thee  firm  here  :  cast  anchor  in  this  port: 
Here  art  thou  safe  till  Death  enfranchise  thee: 

Where  neither  harm,  nor  fears  of  harm,  resort: 
Here,  though  enchained,  thou  liv'st  in  liberty. 

Nothing  on  earth  hath  permanent  abode. 
Nothing  shall  languish  under  sorrow  still. 

The  Fates  have  set  a  certain  period. 
As  well  to  those  that  do  as  suffer  ill." 

The  spectator  who  took  the  deepest  interest  in 

this  enterprise  was  the  Spanish  embassador,  Count 
14 


2IO  Sir  Walter  Raleigh. 

Goiidomar.  He  felt  that  the  success  of  Raleigli 
would  be  at  the  expense  of  Spain,  and  he  had 
already  contrived  to  impress  King  James  with 
misgivings  in  regard  to  the  propriety  of  the  whole 
scheme.  He  had  obtained  from  James  a  full 
catalogue  of  all  the  ships  and  of  their  armament, 
and  had  transmitted  it  to  the  Spanish  court. 
It  is  clear,  now,  that  Raleigh  must  succeed,  or 
be  ruined. 

The  fleet  had  scarcely  got  out  of  Plymouth 
Harbor,  on  the  12th  of  June,  161 7,  when  a  storm 
assailed  them,  and  continued  with  violence  for 
several  weeks,  and  ended  in  a  terrific  tempest. 
They  were  then  some  eight  leagues  off  the  Scilly 
Islands.  After  the  sinking  of  one  vessel,  the 
admiral  signaled  to  the  fleet  to  follow  him  to  the 
harbor  of  Cork.  Here  for  six  weeks  they  were 
obliged  to  wait  for  a  fair  wind,  a  period  long 
enough  to  have  reached  America,  under  favorable 
circumstances.  This  delay  not  only  consumed 
precious  time  and  provisions  for  the  voyage,  but 
gave  rise  to  absurd  rumors  that  he  intended  to 
turn  pirate,  and  not  to  go  on  the  Guiana  expedition. 


Pioneer  of  American  Colonization.     211 

The  first  adventure  that  occurred  after  setting 
sail  again  was  tlie  chase  and  capture  of  four  sus- 
picious-looking ships,  which  were  flying  French 
colors.  One  of  the  shrewd  captains  of  the  fleet 
advised  Raleigh  not  to  credit  their  pretense  of 
being  merchantmen,  but  to  confiscate  them  as 
corsairs.  But  he  refused,  saying,  "It  is  no  busi- 
ness of  mine  to  examine  the  subjects  of  the 
French  king."  Some  time  afterward  it  turned 
out  that  he  had  proof  that  he  was  mistaken. 
They  were  pirates,  and  would  have  been  law- 
ful prey. 

He  reached  the  Canary  Islands  early  in  Sep- 
tember, and  came  to  anchor  in  Lancerota.  The 
people  were  very  much  excited  to  see  a  fleet  of 
thirteen  vessels  anchoring  in  their  waters,  taking 
them  for  Algerian  pirates,  as  they  had  received 
warning  of  the  intention  of  these  ferocious  cor- 
sairs to  make  their  islands  a  visit.  This  suspicion 
was  increased  by  some  of  the  ships  landing  their 
crews  in  the  night.  But  Raleigh  sought  an  inter- 
view with  the  governor,  and  assured  him  of 
peaceable   intentions,  and  asked   leave  to  lay  in 


212  Sir  Walter  Raleigh. 

water  and  provisions.  The  governor  demanded 
that  the  crews  should  be  recalled  to  the  ships,  as 
some  conflict  had  already  taken  place  between 
them  and  the  natives,  and  three  of  the  English 
had  been  wounded.  Raleigh  acceded  to  the 
request,  much  to  the  chagrin  of  some  of  his  men, 
who  wished  to  take  vengeance  on  the  town.  But 
such  conduct  would  have  endangered  the  com- 
merce of  merchantmen  with  the  islands,  and 
have  excited  the  displeasure  of  the  king  and  the 
government. 

One  of  his  captains  at  this  time  proved  him- 
self a  traitor.  Bailey,  captain  of  the  Husband, 
stole  away  with  his  ship,  and  returned  to  Eng- 
land, where  he  reported  that  he  left  Sir  Walter  at 
Lancerota  because  he  had  landed  in  a  hostile 
manner,  and  also  meant  to  turn  pirate.  This 
man's  conduct,  it  is  suspected,  was  a  part  of  a 
plot  of  his  Spanish  and  English  enemies  at  home 
to  implicate  Raleigh  in  unlawful  transactions,  and 
to  bring  ruin  upon  him. 

Not  having  permission  to  purchase  stores  and 
to  get  supplies  at  the  town,  Raleigh  moved  down 


Pioneer  of  American  Colonization.     213 

tlie  island,  and  landed  some  men  to  procure 
water  at  an  uninhabited  place.  But  the  ships 
had  been  followed  by  hostile  parties  on  shore, 
and,  while  the  seamen  were  busy  filling  their 
casks,  they  were  fired  upon,  and  one  of  them 
was  killed.  The  assailants,  numbering  about 
forty,  were  boldly  attacked  by  young  Walter  Ra- 
leigh, at  the  head  of  a  file  of  six  or  eight  men, 
and  were  driven  from  their  ambush  and  scattered. 
Proceeding  thence,  the  fleet  touched  at  Go- 
mera,  another  of  the  Canaries.  Here  he  received 
a  welcomie  quite  in  contrast  with  his  recent  expe- 
rience. The  wife  of  the  governor  was  a  noble 
English  lady;  and  on  sending  his  message  Raleigh 
accompanied  it  with  a  present  of  English  gloves. 
He  received  in  return  from  her  a  present  of  fruits, 
rusks,  and  other  needed  refreshments,  a  part  of 
which  he  distributed  among  the  sick  men  in  the 
fleet.  He  gave  the  strictest  orders  to  his  men  to 
avoid  giving  offense  when  on  shore.  The  man 
who  should  steal  so  much  as  an  orange  or  a  bunch 
of  grapes  should  be  hung  in  the  public  square. 
Before  leaving  the  island,  the  governor  expressed 


214  Sir  Walter  Raleigh. 

his  great  gratification  at  the  good  behavior  of  the 
sailors,  and  even  promised  to  send  a  letter  to  the 
same  effect  to  the  government  at  Madrid.  His 
lady  also  sent  on  board  a  fresh  store  of  fruit  and 
poultry,  in  return  for  a  present  of  lace,  some  per- 
fumes prepared  by  Raleigh  when  in  the  Tower, 
and  a  beautiful  picture  of  the  Magdalen.  ''This 
incident,"  adds  our  eloquent  authority,  Edwards, 
"was  to  prove  for  a  year  to  come  the  one  pleas- 
ant oasis  amid  the  dreary  memories  of  a  voyage 
crowded  with  calamity." 

Leaving  the  Canaries,  where  his  crew  had 
been  refreshed,  and  the  sick  among  them  im- 
proved in  health  or  recovered,  he  encountered  a 
series  of  disasters.  The  sickness  which  had  been 
quelled  broke  out  afresh  in  the  fleet,  and  fifty  men 
in  his  flag-ship  were  prostrated  by  it.  Two  cap- 
tains, the  chief  surgeon,  the  provost  marshal,  and 
several  other  officers,  died.  Off  the  isle  of  Brava, 
one  of  the  Cape  de  Verde  Islands,  in  latitude  14° 
48'  north,  and  longitude  20°  44'  west,  one  of  the 
terrible  hurricanes  known  to  those  tropical  seas 
sunk  one    of   his   vessels,    and    damaged    others. 


Pioneer  of  American  Colonization.     215 

The  disease  increased,  until  a  large  number  of  his 
best  men  in  all  tlie  ships  were  carried  off,  includ- 
ing John  Pigott,  the  lieutenant-general  of  the  land 
forces,  and  his  trusty  servant  John  Talbot,  his 
assistant  and  companion  in  the  Tower.  Then 
came  calms  more  terrible  than  storms,  Avith  tor- 
irents  of  rain  that  overwhelmed  tlie  ships  and 
filled  the  cabins. 

So  they  fared  until  on  the  nth  of  November 
they  sighted  Cape  Orange,  then  called  Wiapoco; 
and  on  the  14th  they  cast  anchor  in  the  river 
Cayenne,  then  called  Caliana.  Here  he  made  it 
his  first  business  to  write  the  following  letter  to 
his  beloved  and  anxious  wife : 

''Sweetheart, — I  can  yet  write  unto  you  but 
with  a  weak  hand,  for  I  have  suffered  the  most 
violent  calenture  for  fifteen  days  that  ever  man 
did  and  lived;  but  God,  that  gave  me  a  strong 
heart  in  all  my  adversities,  hath  also  now  strength- 
ened it  in  the  hell-fire  of  heat. 

'*We  have  had  two  of  the  most  grevious  sick- 
nesses in  our  ship,  of  which  forty-two  have  died, 
and  there  are  yet  many  sick;   but  having  recov- 


2i6  Sir  Walter  Raleigh. 

ered  the  land  of  Guiana  this  12th  of  November, 
I  hope  we  shall  recover  them.  We  are  yet  two 
hundred  men,  and  the  rest  of  our  fleet  are  reason- 
ably strong — strong  enough,  I  hope,  to  perform 
what  we  have  undertaken,  if  the  diligent  care  at 
London  to  make  our  strength  known  to  the  Span- 
ish king  by  his  embassador  hath  not  taught  the 
Spanish  king  to  fortify  all  the  entrances  against  us. 
Howsoever,  we  must  make  the  adventure;  and  if 
we  perish,  it  shall  be  no  honor  for  England,  nor 
gain  for  his  majesty,  to  lose,  among  many  others, 
one  hundred  as  valiant  gendemen  as  England 
hath  in  it. 

"Of  Captain  Bailey's  base  coming  from  us  at 
the  Canaries,  see  a  letter  of  Kemish's  to  Mr.  Scory; 
and  of  the  unnatural  weather,  storms  and  rains 
and  winds,  he  hath  in  the  same  letter  given  a 
touch.  Of  the  way  that  hath  been  sailed  in  four- 
teen days,  now  hardly  performed  in  forty  days, 
God,  I  trust,  will  give  us  comfort  in  that  which 
is  to  come.  In  the  passage  to  the  Canaries,  I 
stayed  at  Gomera,  where  I  took  water  in  peace, 
because  the  country  durst  not  deny  it  me.     I  re- 


Pioneer  of  American  Colonization.     217 

ceived  there  of  a  countess  of  the  English  race  a 
present  of  oranges,  lemons,  quinces,  and  pome- 
granates, without  which  I  could  not  have  lived. 
These  I  preserved  in  sands,  and  I  have  them  yet 
to  my  great  refreshing.  Your  son  had  never  so 
good  health,  having  no  distemper  in  all  the  heat 
under  the  line.  My  servants  have  escaped  but 
Crab  and  my  cook;  yet  all  have  had  the  sickness. 
Crafts  and  March  and  the  rest  are  all  well.  Re- 
member my  service  to  my  Lord  Carew  and  Mr. 
Secretary  Winwood.  I  wrote  not  to  them,  for  I 
can  write  of  nothing  but  miseries  yet. 

"Of  men  of  sort  we  have  lost  one  sergeant- 
major,  Captain  Pigott,  and  his  lieutenant,  Captain 
Edward  Hastings,  who  would  have  died  at  home, 
for  both  his  liver,  spleen,  and  brains  were  rotten; 
my  son's  lieutenant,  Payton,  and  my  cousin,  Mr. 
Hews;  Mr.  Mordaunt,  Mr.  Gardiner,  Mr.  Hay- 
ward,  Captain  Jennings,  the  merchant;  Kemish, 
of  London,  and  the  master  chirurgeon;  master 
refiner;  Mr.  Moor,  the  governor  of  Bermudas; 
our  provost  marshal,  W.  Steed  ;  Lieutenant  Vescie; 
but,  to  my  inestimable  grief,  Hammon  and  Talbot. 


2i8  Sir  Walter  Raleigh. 

By  the  next  I  trust  you  shall  hear  better  of  us. 
In  God's  hands  we  are,  and  in  him  we  trust. 

''This  bearer,  Captain  Alley,  for  his  infirmity 
of  his  head,  I  have  sent  back — an  honest,  valiant 
man.  He  can  deliver  you  all  that  is  past.  Com- 
mend me  to  my  worthy  friends  at  Loathbury,  Sir 
John  Leigh,  and  Mr.  Bower  (whose  nephew  Kner- 
vit  is  well),  and  to  my  cousin  Blundell,  and  my 
most  devoted  and  humble  service  to  his  majesty. 
''To  tell  you  that  I  might  be  here  king  of  the 
Indians  were  a  vanity;  but  my  name  hath  still 
lived  among  them.  Here  they  feed  me  with 
fresh  meat  and  all  that  the  country  yields.  All 
offer  to  obey  me.  Commend  me  to  poor  Carew, 
my  son. 

'■^Frorn  Calliana^  in  Guiana,  the  i^th  of  Nove7nber,  1617." 

While  these  events  were  passing  on  this  side 
the  ocean,  the  deserter  Bailey  was  doing  his 
best  in  London  to  injure  the  reputation  and 
destroy  the  influence  of  Sir  Walter.  He  was 
called  to  an  account  for  his  conduct  by*  the 
Lord  Admiral  Howard,  the  Earl  of  Nottingham, 
the  former  friend  of  Sir  Walter  in  times  gone  by. 


Pioneer  of  American  Colonization.     219 

But  when  the  case  came  before  the  privy  council, 
the  Lord  Admiral  was  prevented  from  attending 
by  sickness,  and  it  happened,  too,  that  Secretary 
Winwood,  the  friend  of  Raleigh  in  all  these  ad- 
ventures, died  suddenly,  and  not  without  suspicion 
that  he  had  been  poisoned.  The  result,  therefore, 
of  the  inquiries  was  that  the  ship  and  goods  which 
had  been  taken  from  Bailey  were  ordered  to  be 
restored  to  him,  and  he  escaped  the  punishment 
due  to  his  crimes.  Not  long  after  Captain  Reeks, 
whose  ship  was  in  the  harbor  of  Lancerota  when 
Raleigh  was  there,  and  for  whose  sake  in  part  he 
forbore  to  fire  upon  the  town  to  avenge  the  treat- 
ment he  had  received  of  the  governor  and  some 
of  the  people,  arrived  in  England,  and  gave  a 
true  and  unvarnished  account  of  the  affair.  He 
said  that  at  first  the  governor  of  the  island  had 
promised  Sir  Walter  that  "he  should  want  for 
nothing  the  island  afforded;"  but  afterward,  with- 
out provocation,  ''all  the  goods  of  the  town  of 
Lancerota  were  sent  to  the  mountains,  and  the 
governor  sent  Sir  Walter  Raleigh  word  that  he 
was  a  pirate,  and  should  have  no  more  than  what 


220  Sir  Walter  Raleigh. 

he  could  win  by  his  sword."  The  effect  of  diis 
tesdmony  was  to  assure  the  friends  of  Raleigh, 
and  to  cause  the  arrest  of  Bailey,  and  his  com- 
mitment to  the  State-house  at  Westminster. 

To  return  to  America,  we  find  Sir  Walter  too 
ill  to  leave  his  ship,  except  as  he  was  carried 
ashore  in  a  chair.  He  makes  inquiry  for  his 
friend  Harry,  the  Indian  who  had  so  long  looked 
for  his  return,  and  earnestly  inquired  after  him 
of  every  English  ship  that  had  appeared  on  that 
coast.  It  was  not  long  before  Harry  made  his 
appearance,  preceded  and  accompanied  with  muni- 
ficent presents  of  "roasted  mullets  (which  were 
very  good  meat),  great  store  of  plantains  and  pine- 
apples, with  pistachios  (or  ground-nuts),  and  divers 
other  sorts  of  fruit." 

The  ships  having  taken  time  for  needful  re- 
pairs, orders  were  given  to  proceed  toward  the 
river  Orinoco,  and  the  ''Triangle  Isles"  were 
made  the  "general  rendezvous.''^  Captain  Key- 
mis,  who  had  familiar  acquaintance  with  country, 
had  the  command  of  the  expedition  to  search  for 
the  gold  mines,  the  grand  object  of  the  whole  en- 


Pioneer  of  American  Colonization.     221 

terprise.  The  land  forces  were  placed  under  the 
general  command  of  George  Raleigh,  the  nephew 
of  Sir  Walter.  Under  him  were  Captains  Ra 
leigh,  the  son  of  Sir  Walter,  Parker,  North. 
Thornhurst,  and  Hall. 

Sir  Walter,  still  suffering  from  a  relapse  of  his 
disease,  gave  written  directions  to  the  principal 
commanders  how  to  proceed.  The  land  forces 
were  to  encamp  "between  the  Spanish  town  and 
the  mine,  if  there  be  any  camp  near  it;  that,  be- 
ing so  secured,  you  may  make  trial  what  depth 
and  breadth  the  mine  holds,  and  whether  or  no  it 
answers  our  hopes.  If  you  find  it  royal,  and  the 
Spaniards  begin  to  war  on  you,  you,  George  Ra- 
leigh, are  to  repel  them,  if  it  be  in  yoiy:  power, 
and  to  drive  them  as  far  as  you  can." 

To  Keymis  he  wrote:  ''If  you  find  the  mine 
be  not  so  rich  as  may  persuade  the  holding  of  it, 
and  draw  on  a  second  supply,  then  you  shall 
bring  but  a  packet  or  two,  to  satisfy  His  Majesty 
that  my  design  was  not  imaginary,  but  true, 
though  not  answerable  to  His  Majesty's  expecta- 
tion.    Of  the   quantity   I   never  gave   assurance, 


2  22  Sir  Walter  Raleigh. 

nor  could.  On  the  other  side,  if  you  shall  find 
that  any  great  number  of  soldiers  be  newly  sent 
to  Orinoco,  as  the  cacique  of  Caliana  told  us  that 
they  were,  and  that  the  passage  be  re-enforced  so 
that,  without  manifest  peril  of  my  son,  yourself, 
and  the  other  captains,  you  can  not  pass  toward 
the  mine,  then  be  well  advised  how  you  land. 
For  I  know,  a  few  gentlemen  excepted,  what  a 
scum  of  men  you  have.  And  I  would  not  for  all 
the  world  receive  a  blow  from  the  Spaniard,  to 
the  dishonor  of  our  nation.  I  myself,  for  my 
weakness,  can  not  be  present.  Neither  will  the 
companies  land  except  I  stay  with  the  ships,  the 
galleons  of  Spain  being  daily  expected." 

That  part  of  the  fleet  detailed  for  this  enter- 
prise set  sail  for  the  Orinoco  on  the  loth  of  De- 
cember, and  the  first  of  January  found  Sir  Walter 
making  his  head-quarters  at  Terra  de  Bri,  a  port 
of  Trinidad,  about  one  hundred  and  fifty  miles 
north  of  the  mouth  of  the  Orinoco.  It  took  over 
three  weeks  for  the  fleet  to  reach  the  river  and 
ascend  it  as  far  as  the  island  of  Taya.  A  fisher- 
man who  was  on  the  watch  for  tliein   carried  the 


Pioneer  of  American  Colonization.     223 

news  of  their  arrival  to  St.  Thomas,  a  new  Span- 
ish town,  near  the  entrance  of  the  Caroni  into 
the  Orinoco.  Of  the  existence  of  this  new  St. 
Thomas,  Raleigh  had  not  been  informed,  ^or  was 
it  to  be  seen  from  the  river.  Passing  on,  the  fleet 
arrived  at  Point  Araya  on  the  ist  of  January, 
1 61 8.  The  land  forces  were  landed  here,  intend- 
ing to  encamp  for  the  night,  and  the  next  morn- 
ing 10  march  in  search  of  the  gold  mines.  A 
party  of  Spaniards,  under  the  command  of  Ge- 
ronimo  de  Grados,  were  in  ambush  on  a  rising 
point  between  them  and  the  village,  and  as  soon 
as  night  set  in  surprised  the  English  camp  by  a 
sudden  and  furious  attack.  The  English  rallied, 
and,  led  by  young  Captain  Raleigh  and  the  other 
captains,  they  repelled  and  drove  the  Spaniards 
back.  Presently  troops  from  St.  Thomas,  under 
Diego  Palomaque,  came  to  their  assistance.  Call- 
ing upon  the  pikemen  not  to  wait  for  the  mus- 
keteers, Raleigh  drove  at  them,  and  slew  with  his 
own  hand  their  leader.  He  was  struck  by  a 
musket  shot,  but,  reckless  of  his  wound,  he  at- 
tacked with  his  sword  an  officer,  named  Erinetta, 


2  24  Sir  Walter  Raleigh. 

who  defended  himself  with  the  butt  of  his  mus- 
ket, and  struck  Walter  to  the  ground.  Mortally 
wounded,  he  cheered  on  his  men,  crying,  "Go 
on !  May  the  Lord  have  mercy  on  me,  and 
prosper  youi  enterprise !"  Erinetta  was  immedi- 
ately pierced  to  the  heart  by  a  halbert  in  the 
hands  of  a  sergeant.  The  Spaniards  retreat.  A 
party  of  them  took  refuge  in  a  monastery  at  the 
outskirts  of  the  town.  It  was  stormed  and  taken. 
The  survivors  of  the  fight  escaped  to  the  forest, 
and  finally  to  the  place  of  refuge  occupied  by  the 
women  and  children,  who  had  fled  from  the  town 
on  the  approach  of  the  English. 

Garcia  de  Aguilar,  who  succeeded  Palomaque, 
ordered  the  women,  children,  and  invalids  to  be 
removed  to  an  island  in  the  Orinoco,  and  organ- 
ized the  defeated  troops  of  St.  Thomas.  One 
portion  of  tliem  was  to  guard  the  place  of  refuge, 
and  another  portion  to  hang  about  St.  Thomas, 
to  prevent  the  English  from  holding  communica- 
tion with  the  Indians,  and  to  cut  off  any  strag- 
glers who  might  wander  from  the  town. 

The    death    of    Walter    Raleigh,    Jr.,   threw   a 


Pioneer  of  American  Colonization.     225 

gloom  over  the  English  camp,  who  now  occupied 
the  town.  He  and  Captain  Cosmar  were  buried 
with  military  ceremonies  near  the  high  altar  of 
the  Church  of  St.  I'homas. 

The  same  day  the  vessels  of  Captain  Whitney 
and  Captain  Wallaston  arrived. 

Captain  Keymis  now  took  two  launches,  and 
ascended  the  Orinoco  in  search  of  the  mine; 
but  one  of  the  launches  being  fired  into  by  an 
ambuscade  of  Spaniards  near  Seiba,  and  nine  out 
of  ten  men  constituting  the  crew  being  shot,  he 
turned  back  to  St.  Thomas  for  re-enforcements. 
Those  that  remained  in  the  captured  town  made 
inquiries  and  earnest  search  for  the  coveted 
mines.  The  Indians  whom  they  met  assured 
them  that  they  existed  in  this  region,  but  had  not 
been  worked  for  a  long  time,  for  want  of  imple- 
ments. Although  Captain  Keymis  seems  to  be 
disheartened  in  respect  to  further  efforts  to  reach 
the  gold  mine,  George  Raleigh  was  not  in  the 
mood  to  give  up,  and,  taking  three  boats  filled 
with  soldiers  and  workers,  he  ascended  the  Orinoco 
as  far  as  the  mouth  of  the  Guarico,  a  hundred 
15 


2  26  Sir  Walter  Raleigh. 

leagues  or  more  above  St.  Thomas.  He  was  de- 
lighted with  the  country,  and  saw  how  attractive 
it  was  to  emigration;  but  he  found  no  gold  mines, 
nor  indeed  made  any  effort  to  discover  them. 

AVhen  he  returned  to  St.  Thomas  he  found  the 
company  ready  to  abandon  the  enterprise.  They 
had  suffered  from  sickness,  and  were  in  constant 
alarm  from  the  hostility  of  the  Sj^aniards  and  the 
natives.  No  one  could  venture  out  of  the  town 
without  danger  of  being  captured,  tortured,  and 
killed.  One  night  the  town  was  assaulted  by  a 
large  force  of  the  enemy,  and  fired  in  several 
places.  It  was  concluded  by  all  parties  that  the 
enterprise  was  a  failure.  The  death  of  young 
Raleigli,  the  sickness  of  the  admiral,  over  whose 
head  was  suspended  the  penalty  of  death,  and 
the  discovery  of  documents  containing  tlie  corre- 
siDondence  of  the  Spanish  government  at  Madrid 
with  the  late  governor  of  Guiana,  Palomaque,  by 
which  it  appeared  that  the  whole  enterprise  was 
betrayed  by  King  James,  even  before  it  left  Eng- 
land, all  taken  with  the  fact  that  the  Spaniards  and 
their  Indian   allies  were   every-where  in   force  to 


Pioneer  of  American  Colonization.     227 

resist,  disposed  Captain  Key  mis  to  give  up  the  whole 
business,  and  to  quit  the  country.  It  can  not  be  that 
he  doubted  the  existence  of  the  precious  metals  in 
the  interior,  for  he  had  in  previous  voyages  satis- 
fied himself  of  that  fact,  and  had  brought  off 
heavy  nuggets  of  gold  as  samples  obtained  from 
the  Indians;  but  he  thought  it  not  wise  to  persist 
in  the  face  of  such  obstacles  and  perils  as  he  en- 
countered, and  with  symptoms  of  mutiny  in  the 
camp,  and  with  traitors  in  the  rear  in  the  English 
government.  He  had  sent  Sir  Walter  a  letter 
containing  the  sad  news  of  his  noble  son's  death, 
and  now  he  must  bear  to  him  the  intelligence 
worse  than  death  or  bereavement,  of  the  failure 
of  his  long  cherished  scheme.  Taking  with  them 
some  spoils,  six  hundred  reals  in  money,  a  silver 
basin,  some  gold  nuggets,  church  bells,  and  orna- 
ments, the  English  troops  set  fire  to  the  town, 
and  embarked  in  their  vessels.  Two  of  the 
Indian  captives  they  took  away  with  them,  one 
of  whom  lived  to  reach  England,  and  to  bring 
back  to  Guiana  the  wonderful  story  of  English 
civilization.     Going  down   the  river,  he  came  to 


228  Sir  Walter  Raleigh. 

the  territory  of  some  Indian  tribes,  whose  caicques 
remembered  Raleigh,  and  made  flattering  off'ers 
to  induce  the  company  to  settle  with  them,  and 
share  their  wealth,  saying  that  they  had  held  a 
portion  of  the  country  for  Elizabeth;  but  Keymis 
was  full  of  suspicion  now  of  collusion  with  the 
Spaniards,  and  he  declined  the  overtures.  Here 
was  a  chance,  some  writers  think,  of  redeeming 
the  expedition  from  failure,  and  so  tliought  Ra- 
leigh; but  it  was  not  to  be. 

The  fleet  now  made  straight  for  Trinidad, 
where  they  arrived  on  the  2d  of  March,  16 18, 
having  been  gone  less  than  two  months,  of  which 
twenty-five  days  had  been  spent  at  St.  Thomas. 
The  reception  which  Keymis  received  from  the 
admiral  may  be  easily  imagined.  The  death  of 
young  Raleigh  had  filled  the  cup  of  his  sorrow  to 
the  brim,  and  now  the  report  of  the  defeated  ex- 
pedition and  the  blasting  of  his  last  hope  of  success 
made  it  to  run  over.  His  reproaches  were  deep 
and  bitter.  The  failure  to  discover  the  mines  would 
be  ruin  to  himself  and  to  all  concerned.  In  vain 
did  Keymis  plead  that  he  had  not  force  sufficient 


Pioneer  of  American  Colonization.     229 

to  penetrate  into  the  interior  against  the  combined 
opposition  of  Spaniards  and  Indians;  that  Gonda- 
mar  had  got  ahead  of  them,  and  had  roused  the 
Avhole  country  against  the  invasion  of  the  En- 
ghsh;  that  if  he  had  persisted  and  found  the 
mines,  it  would  only  be  to  the  final  advantage  of 
the  Spaniards,  for  he  had  not  men  enough  to 
hold  it;  that  his  followers  were  dispirited  upon 
young  Raleigh's  death,  and  he  could  not  rely  on 
them;  that  he  feared  Sir  Walter  himself  would 
sink  under  his  sickness  and  grief  at  his  son's 
death,  and  he  did  not  care  "to  enrich  a  company 
of  rascals  who  made  no  account  of  him." 

"You  have  undone  me,  wounded  my  credit 
with  the  king  past  recovery,"  repeated  Sir  Walter. 
"You  must  answer  it  to  the  king  and  to  the 
State."  Keymis  is  overwhelmed  with  grief  and 
remorse.  He  retires  to  his  cabin,  and  writes  a 
long  and  elaborate  apology  to  the  Earl  of  Arundel, 
one  of  the  patrons  of  the  enterprise,  and  brings  it 
to  Raleigh  for  his  sanction.  But  he  refused  to  do 
so,  saying  that  he  had  refuted  every  point,  and 
no  satisfactory  explanation  could  be  made.      "Is 


230  Sir  Walter  Raleigh. 

that  your  resolution?"  said  Keymis.  "It  is," 
said  Raleigh.  "I  know  then,"  said  Keymis  as 
he  withdrew,  "what  course  to  take."  Not  long 
after  a  pistol-shot  was  heard  in  the  cabin  over- 
head. A  page  was  sent  to  inquire  what  it  meant. 
The  door  was  shut,  and  Keymis  answered  from 
within  that  the  pistol  had  long  been  charged,  and 
he  had  fired  it  off.  Less  than  an  hour  after  the 
lad  goes  into  the  room,  and  finds  the  captain 
lying  on  his  bed  with  the  pistol  by  his  side  and 
a  knife  penetrating  his  breast.  The  knife  had 
done  what  the  ball  had  failed  to  effect — the  veteran 
seaman  was  dead. 

The  whole  fleet  was  now  assembled  at  Trini- 
dad. During  the  absence  of  the  exploring  expe- 
dition Sir  Walter  was  in  constant  expectation  of 
the  arrival  of  a  hostile  fleet  from  Spain.  The 
Spaniards  at  Trinidad  had  given  him  considerable 
annoyance.  A  boat  was  fired  into  at  one  time 
by  a  party  in  ambush;  but  no  one  was  killed 
or  wounded.  Soon  another  boat  crew  wander- 
ing on  shore  were  attacked,  and  one  man  was 
killed,   and  a  boy  was   taken  captive   and   never 


Pioneer  of  American  Colonization.      2^1 


j'» 


recovered,  though  Raleigh  pursued  the  enemy  and 
scattered  them.  The  question  now  arose  what 
course  the  united  fleet  should  take.  Captains 
Whitney  and  Wallaston  concluded  that  it  would 
be  ruin  to  return  to  England,  and  that  something 
must  be  done  to  wreak  vengeance  on  the  Span- 
iards, and  to  secure  spoils  to  enrich  themselves. 
Raleigh  hinted  that  the  Mexican  Plate  Fleet 
might  be  a  useful  prey.  This  he  said  to  divert 
the  minds  of  the  captains  from  undertaking  priv- 
ateering on  their  own  account,  for  his  own  mind 
was  fully  bent  on  returning  directly  homeward; 
but  it  was  of  no  avail  with  Whitney  and  Wallas- 
ton, who  took  the  first  opportunity  to  desert  with 
their  ships.  It  is  clear  that  Raleigh  regarded 
depredations  on  Spanish  commerce  as  lawful  re- 
prisals for  the  damage  done  him  and  his  enter- 
prise; but  he  had  promised  Arundel  and  Pem- 
broke to  return  to  England,  and  he  meant  to 
keep  his  word.  His  remarks  about  the  Mexican 
Plate  Fleet,  however,  were  quoted  against  him  as 
proofs  that  he  meant  to  turn  pirate.  The  news 
of  the  taking  and  burning  of  St.  Thomas  had  got 


232 


Sir  Walter  Raleigh. 


to  Madrid  some  days  before  it  reached  England, 
and  Gondamar  had  rushed  into  the  presence  of 
King  James  crying  in  Spanish,  ''Pirates!  pirates! 
pirates  1"  and  as  James  was  now  bent  on  a  mar- 
riage of  Prince  Charles  with  the  Spanish  Infanta,  it 
was  proof  enough  that  Walter  Raleigh  had  com- 
mitted a  great  crime;  and  he  was  glad  that  he 
had  not  pardoned  him  before  he  set  forth  on  the 
expedition,  and  could  now  get  rid  of  him  by  exe- 
cuting the  sentence  which  had  been  suspended 
so  long. 

In  a  council  of  the  leaders  of  the  expedition 
it  was  concluded  to  pass  up  the  American  coast 
to  Newfoundland,  and  there  to  repair  the  ships, 
and  conclude  what  further  to  do  before  returning 
home.  He  still  clung  to  the  idea  of  making  some- 
thing out  of  Guiana.  However,  at  Newfoundland 
he  ^found  his  crews  so  anxious  to  return  to  Eng- 
land, and  almost  ready  to  mutiny,  and  some  ot 
the  ships  actually  going,  that  he  concluded  to 
follow  them,  and  abandon  himself  to  the  mercy 
of  the  king.  Never  was  hope  more  illusive. 
His  doom  was  already  prepared.     We  next  find 


Pioneer  of  American  Colonization.     233 

him  on  the  Irish  coast,  and  anchoring  at  Kings- 
dale  with  two  or  three  of  his  ships,  the  rest  of  the 
fleet  having  been  scattered  by  storms.  Thence 
Sir  Walter  proceeds  in  the  Destiny  to  Plymouth, 
where  he  arrived  on  the  21st  of  June,  161 8. 
Captain  Pennington's  ship  was  seized  by  the  lord 
deputy  of  Ireland,  under  orders  from  the  court, 
previously  given,  to  attach  any  and  all  of  the 
Guiana  squadron  which  might  put  into  any  Irish 
port.  Captain  Pennington  went  to  London  to 
seek  redress,  and  was  arrested  and  put  in  prison. 
Such  were  the  first  fruits  and  earnest  of  what  was 
in  store  for  Sir  Walter. 


234  Sir  Walter  Raleigh. 


dlikptef    XVIII. 

ARRESTED  ON  HIS  JOURNEY  TO  LONDON — EXPEDIENTS  TO 
ESCAPE— COMMITTED  TO  THE  TOWER — FRUITLESS  EF- 
FORTS    OF    QUEEN     ANNE    IN    HIS    BEHALF BROUGHT 

BEFORE   THE   COURT   OF   THE   KING's    BENCH  —  FORMER 

SENTENCE    RENEWED    AGAINST    HIM HIS    EXECUTION 

ANB  BURIAL. 

T  T  AVING  remained  in  Plymouth  a  few  weeks, 
^  ^  Sir  Walter  Raleigh  started  for  London,  in 
company  with  his  wife  and  Captain  Samuel  King, 
of  the  Guiana  fleet,  a  fast  friend.  They  had  pro- 
ceeded no  fgirther  than  Ashburton,  twenty  miles 
from  Plymouth,  when  they  met  Sir  Lewis  Stuke- 
ley,  vice-admiral  of  Devonshire,  a  relative  of  Ra- 
leigh, who  had  the  king's  orders  to  arrest  him, 
and  to  seize  his  ships.  They  turned  back  imme- 
diately to  Plymouth,  and  Stukeley  took  possession 
of  the  Destiny.  He  left  Sir  Walter,  with  his  wife 
and  servant,  at  the  house  of  Sir  Christopher  Harris, 


Pioneer  of  American  Colonization.     235 

while    he    busied    himself    about    the    affairs    of 
the  ship. 

There  was  now  a  chance  for  Raleigh  to  escape. 
Urged  by  his  wife  and  friends,  he  engaged  Cap- 
tain King  to  hire  a  vessel  to  take  him  to  France, 
and  one  night  two  men  came  and  took  him  in  a 
boat  to  go  to  the  vessel  waiting  out  in  the  offing 
of  the  harbor.  But  just  before  they  reached  the 
barge  Sir  Walter  had  misgivings  as  to  whether 
it  was  honorable  for  him  to  take  this  course, 
and  he  ordered  the  men  to  turn  back.  The  lov- 
ing instincts  of  his  wife  were  in  this  case  wiser 
than  the  reasonings  of  her  husband.  Under  the 
circumstances,  he  had  a  right  to  protect  himself 
from  the  injustice  and  cruelty  of  the  government, 
as  it  now  began  to  be  manifested  by  the  treatment 
he  and  his  captains  were  receiving.  It  is  alto- 
gether likely,  from  the  loose  manner  in  which 
Stukeley  guarded  him,  and  from  subsequent  ma- 
neuvers of  this  officer,  that  it  would  not  be  disa 
greeable  to  his  employers  to  have  his  prisoner 
escape,  and  in  that  way  deliver  them  from  the 
dilemma  of  disposing  of  him,  so  as  to  satisfy  the 


236  Sir  Walter  Raleigh. 

vindictiveness  of  the  Spanish  court.  The  state- 
ment that,  after  the  death  of  Raleigh,  was  made 
by  the  king,  called  the  Declaration,  and  drawn 
up  at  the  instance  of  Lord  Francis  Bacon,  to  jus- 
tify the  conduct  of  the  king,  was  false  in  the 
assertion  that  Raleigh  attempted  to  escape  before 
the  time  of  his  arrest  by  Stukeley.  He  thought 
of  no  such  thing  before  it  appeared  that  his  life 
was  in  danger. 

Soon  a  peremptory  order  to  Stukeley  came 
from  the  council  to  bring  his  prisoner  to  Lon- 
don. They  were  now  accompanied  by  one 
Manourie,  a  French  doctor,  employed  by  Stuke- 
ley on  pretense  of  Raleigh's  health  requiring 
medical  advice,  but  really  for  the  purpose  of  set- 
ting a  spy  over  him.  To  him  Raleigh  and  Cap- 
tain King  talked  freely  about  their  affairs.  "I 
wish,"  said  King,  one  day,  "we  were  all  safe  at 
Paris."  As  they  passed  by  his  former  estate  at 
Sherbourne,  Raleigh  remarked  to  Manourie,  ''All 
this  was  mine,  and  it  was  taken  from  me  unjustly." 
These  and  other  talks  were  reported  by  Manourie 
to  Stukeley. 


Pioneer  of  American  Colonization.     237 

Descending  the  hill  at  Wilton,  toward  Salis- 
bury, Raleigh  dismounted  and  walked  with  the 
Frenchman,  and  opened  to  him  a  project  which 
occupied  his  thoughts,  to  delay  his  journey  at  the 
latter  place  until  the  king,  who  was  expected 
there  in  a  "progress"  over  the  country,  should 
arrive.  His  object  was  to  get  time  to  put  in 
writing  a  full  explanation  of  the  Guiana  voyage, 
for  his  defense  with  the  council,  and  for  his  vin- 
dication with  posterity.  The  scheme  suggested  to 
the  doctor  was  that  he  should  give  him  some 
medicine  which  should  make  him  ill  for  a  time, 
and  dispose  Sir  Lewis  Stukeley  to  delay  the  jour- 
ney. "I  shall  thus,"  Manourie  reported  Raleigh's 
remarks,  "gain  time  to  reach  my  friends  and  or- 
der my  affairs,  perhaps  even  to  pacify  his  majesty. 
Otherwise,  as  soon  as  ever  I  come  to  London, 
they  will  have  me  in  the  Tower,  and  cut  off 
my  head.  I  can  not  escape  it  without  counter- 
feiting sickness,  which  your  vomits  will  effect 
without  suspicion."  This  being  arranged,  as  Sir 
Walter  was  proceeding  to  his  chamber  at  Salis- 
bury, he  stumbled  in  the  corridor  and  fell  against 


238  Sir  Walter  Raleigh. 

a  pillar.  The  plot  took;  the  prisoner  was  de- 
tained; Lady  Raleigh,  who  was  in  the  secret, 
and  her  attendants  went  on  to  her  house  in  Lon- 
don; and  Captain  King  was  directed  to  hire  a 
ship  at  London  or  Gravesend,  that  should  be  in 
readiness  at  Tilbury,  on  the  Thames,  for  another 
attempt  to  escape  to  France.  The  next  morning 
a  servant  came  rushing  into  Stukeley's  room, 
crying  out:  "My  master  is  out  of  his  wits.  I 
have  just  found  him  in  his  shirt,  on  all  fours, 
gnawing  at  the  rushes  on  the  boards!" 

The  doctor  was  sent  to  him,  and  administered 
an  emetic.  He  also  besmeared  his  forehead, 
arms,  and  breast  with  an  ointment  which  brought 
out  on  the  skin  purple  pustules,  like  the  leprosy. 
The  Bishop  of  Ely,  who  was  in  town  and  heard 
of  the  case,  sent  the  best  of  the  physicians  of 
Salisbury  to  his  relief;  and  these  physicians 
joined  with  Manourie  in  a  certificate  that  it 
would  not  be  safe  for  the  prisoner  to  continue  his 
journey  for  some  days.  Raleigh's  object  was 
gained;  he  had  time  to  write  ''The  Apology  foi 
the  Voyage  to  Guiana."     In  less  than  a  week  the 


Pioneer  of  American  Qjlonization.     239 

king  and  his  court  came  to  Salisbury,  and  Stuke- 
ley  received  peremptory  orders  to  take  his  pris- 
oner to  London. 

On  the  7th  of  August  Raleigh  arrived  at  his 
house  in  Broad  Street,  where,  according  to  orders 
previously  given,  Stukeley  was  to  keep  guard 
over  him  instead  of  taking  him  to  the  Tower. 
Here  he  was'  visited  by  two  emissaries  of  the 
French  government,  Le  Clerc  and  De  Novion, 
who  made  him  an  offer  of  a  bark  to  carry  him  to 
Calais.  This  the  government  found  out,  and 
though  they  were  satisfied  that  Raleigh  was  pas- 
sive in  the  matter,  it  complicated  his  case,  and 
made  it  worse.  Captain  King  came  and  informed 
him  that  a  ketch  had  been  provided,  and  was 
waiting  at  Tilbury  under  the  command  of  one 
Hart,  formerly  a  boatswain  of  Captain  King. 
Stukeley  was  informed  of  all  this;  but  he  pre- 
tended to  favor  it,  having  been  promised  by  Rar 
leigh  large  rewards  for  his  connivance.  He  ac- 
companied  Raleigh,  with  his  son.  Captain  King, 
and  a  page  to  the  river's  side,  where  two  wher- 
ries  waited   to   row   the    company  to   the   ketch. 


240  Sir  Walter  Raleigh. 

They  had  scarcely  got  out  on  the  river  before 
they  perceived  that  they  were  followed  by  a 
boat  full  of  men.  It  was  Herbert,  a  relation 
of  Stukeley,  who  had  been  engaged  by  him 
for  the  purpose  of  apprehending  Raleigh  when 
he  should  have  gone  so  far  as  to  prove  that 
he  intended  to  escape  to  France.  King  and 
Raleigh  expressed  their  suspicions;  but  Stuke- 
ley tried  to  allay  them.  Their  talk  alarmed 
the  watermen,  and  they  slackened  their  speed. 
The  tide  was  getting  unfavorable,  and  the  ketch 
could  not  be  reached  before  daylight,  and  it  was 
clear  that  their  pursuers  would  overtake  them. 
In  this  predicament  it  was  decided  to  turn  back, 
and  when  they  turned,  the  suspicious  boat  turned 
also,  and  followed  them  to  Greenwich.  Arrived 
there,  Stukeley  threw  off  his  disguise,  and  arrested 
both  Raleigh  and  King  in  the  name  of  King 
James.  "Sir  Lewis,"  said  Raleigh,  "these  ac- 
tions will  not  turn  out  to  your  credit."  He  was 
conducted  to  the  Tower,  where  he  parted  with 
his  faithful  friend,  who  was  allowed  to  go  at  liberty. 
Le  Clerc,  who  was  resident  minister  of  France, 


Pioneer  of  American  Colonization.     241 

was  called  to  attend  at  a  meeting  of  the  privy- 
council,  and  explain  his  visit  to  Sir  Walter.  He 
denied  that  he  had  made  any  overtures  to  Sir 
Walter  Raleigh  to  assist  him  to  escape  to  France, 
and .  persisted  in  denying  it  even  after  he  was 
confronted  with  De  Novion,  who  had  confessed  it 
all.  It  was  decreed  that  Le  Clerc  should  retire 
to  his  house,  and  forbear  any  further  actions  as  a 
public  minister.  This  proceeding  excited  great 
indignation  at  the  French  court.  They  denied 
that  a  man  who  had  been  appointed  admiral  of  a 
fleet  of  fourteen  ships  could  be  pronounced  "a 
traitor,"  and  they  asserted  that  whatever  Le  Clerc 
had  done,  it  was  not  to  do  King  James  any  ''dis- 
service," but  only  to  draw  service  for  him  against 
the  Spaniards.  For  their  part  of  this  mean  tragedy, 
Manourie  received  twenty  pounds,  and  Stukeley 
nine  hundred  and  sixty-five  pounds,  three  shill- 
ings, and  sixpence — a  poor  fee  for  a  treachery 
which  gave  him  the  name  of  Sir  Judas  Stukeley. 
The  doom  of  Raleigh  was  now  certain  to  every 
body.     Kmg  James  had   him  now  wholly  in  his 

power,   and   it  was   only  a   question  whether   he 
16 


242  Sir  Walter  Raleigh. 

should  give  him  up  to  Spain  to  be  hanged  by 
them  as  a  buccaneer,  or  to  be  brought  to  the 
block  in  England  in  execution  of  the  sentence  be- 
fore pronounced  upon  him.  He  was  repeatedly- 
brought  before  a  committee  of  the  privy  coun- 
cil for  examination.  Attorney-general  Yelverton 
charged  him  with  having  deceived  the  king  by 
pretending  to  have  discovered  a  gold  mine  which 
no  person  knew  but  himself,  and  yet  he  took  no 
miners,  nor  tools  for  the  business,  and  gave  no 
orders  to  his  men  to  search  for  it.  The  solicitor- 
general  charged  him  with  abandoning  his  forces 
in  Guiana,  and  with  ''vile  and  dishonorable 
speeches  full  of  contumely  to  the  king"  since  his 
return  to  England.  Sir  Walter  replied  to  all 
these  allegations,  and  concluded  by  denying  that 
the  Spaniards  had  any  rightful  dominion  over 
that  region  where  they  had  built  the  new  town  of 
St.  Thomas.  Being  charged  with  proposing  to 
capture  the  Mexican  fleet,  he  admitted  that  he 
talked  about  taking  it,  but  it  was  **in  order  to 
keep  the  fleet  together." 

Not  satisfied  with  what  was  gained  by  these  ex- 


Pioneer  of  American  Colonization.     243 

aminations,  the  government  appointed  Sir  Thomas 
Wilson  to  have  the  keeping  and  oversight  of  Sir 
Walter  in  the  Tower,  with  a  view  to  get  from 
him  statements  and  expressions  which  might  tend 
his  conviction  of  treason  or  piracy;  but,  though 
he  promised  that  ''if  he  would  discover  what  he 
knew,  the  king  would  forgive  him  and  do  him 
all  favor,"  yet  nothing  was  extracted  from  Ra- 
leigh to  his  disadvantage.  He  persisted  in  de- 
fending the  whole  enterprise  as  lawful  and  expe- 
dient, and  emphatically  denied  the  claims  set  up 
by  Spain  to  the  exclusive  possession  of  Guiana. 

Lady  Raleigh  was  made  a  prisoner  in  her  own 
house,  under  the  charge  of  a  Mr.  Wallaston,  a 
London  merchant,  and  her  furniture  and  household 
goods  were  put  under  lock  and  key.  The  letters 
which  passed  between  her  and  her  husband  were 
intercepted  by  Wilson  to  find  accusations  against 
him.  A  copy  of  one  of  Sir  Walter's  letters  to  his 
wife  has  been  preserved,  which  shows  that  Wilson 
and  his  son  Edward  had  played  well  the  part  of  a 
spy.     It  concludes  thus  : 

**I  am  sycke  and  weak.     This  honest  gentle- 


244  Sir  Walter  Raleigh. 

man,  Mr.  Edward  Wilson,  is  my  keeper,  and 
takes  much  payne  with  me.  My  swolne  syde 
keeps  me  in  perpetual  pain  and  unrest.  God 
comfort  us.  Yours,  W.  R." 

Lady  Raleigh's  reply  to  Sir  Walter's  letter  was 
the  following : 

"I  am  sory  to  hear  amongst  many  discomforts 
that  your  health  is  so  ill.  'Tis  meerly  sorrow 
and  greaf  that  with  wynde  hath  gathered  into 
your  syde.  I  hope  your  health  and  comforts  Will 
mend,  and  mend  us  for  God.  I  am  glad  to  hear 
you  have  the  company  and  comfort  of  so  good  a 
keeper.  I  was  somewhat  dismayed  at  the  first 
that  you  had  no  servant  of  your  own  left  you; 
but  I  hear  this  night  servants  are  very  neces- 
sary. God  requite  his  courtesyes,  and  God  in 
mercy  look  on  us.  Yours, 

"E.  Raleigh." 

Raleigh  wrote  a  letter  to  the  king;  also,  to  his 
favorite  minister,  the  Marquis,  afterward  Duke,  of 
Buckingham,  to  intercede  in  his  behalf.  He  also 
appealed  to  the  queen  in  the  following  lines, 
which  were  among  the  last  verses  with  which  he 


Pioneer  of  American  Colonization.     245 

relieved  the  tedium  and  gloom  of  imprisonment. 
The  queen  never  ceased  to  love  and  respect  Ra- 
leigh, especially  since  the  death  of  her  first-born 
son,  Prince  Henry.  Her  own  health  was  now 
failing,  and  she  was  in  a  mood  to  give  earnest 
heed  to  the  plea  of  one  whose  life  was  suspended 
oy  a  hair. 

"Oh,  had  Truth  power  the  guiltless  could  not  fall, 
Malice  win  glory,  or  Revenge  triumph ; 
But  Truth  alone  can  not  encounter  all. 

Mercy  is  fled  to  God  which  Mercy  made  ; 
Compassion  dead;  Faith  turned  to  Policy. 
Friends  know  not  those  who  sit  in  sorrow's  shade. 

For  what  we  sometimes  were  we  are  no  more; 
Fortune  hath  changed  the  shape,  and  Destiny 
Defaced  the  very  form  we  had  before. 

All  love,  and  all  desert  of  former  times, 
Malice  hath  covered  from  my  sovereign's  eyes, 
And  largely  laid  abroad  supposed  crimes. 

But  kings  care  not  to  mind  what  vassals  were. 
But  know  them  now  as  Envy  hath  described  them : 
So  can  I  look  on  no  side  from  Despair. 

Cold  walls,  to  you  I  speak ;  but  you  are  senseless. 
Celestial  powers,  you  hear,  but  have  determined, 
And  shall  determine,  to  my  greatest  happiness. 


246  Sir  Walter  Ralligh. 

Then  unto  whom  shall  I  unfold  my  wrongs, 
Cast  down  my  tears,  or  hold  up  folded  liands? 
To  her  to  whom  remorse  doth  most  belong. 

To  her  who  is  the  first,  and  may  alone 

Be  justly  called  the  empress  of  the  Britons. 

Who  shall  have  mercy  if  a  queen  hath  none? 

Save  those  who  would  have  died  for  your  defense; 
Save  him  whose  thoughts  no  treason  ever  tainted. 
For,  lo  !  destruction  is  not  recompense. 

If  I  have  sold  my  duty,  sold  my  faith 
To  strangers,  which  was  only  due  to  one, 
Nothing  I  should  esteem  so  dear  as  death. 

But  if  both  God  and  Time  shall  make  you  know 
That  I,  your  humblest  vassal,  am  opprest, 
Then  cast  your  eyes  on  undeserved  woe, 

That  I  and  mine  may  never  mourn  the  miss 
Of  her  we  had ;  but  praise  our  living  queen. 
Who  brings  us  equal,  if  not  greater,  bliss." 

Queen  Anne  immediately  addressed  a  letter  in 
a   familiar   and    earnest   style  to   Buckingham,    a 
copy  of  which  is  preserved. 
*'Anna  R.  : 

^^My  kind  dogge, — If  I  have  any  power  or 
credit  with  you,  I  pray  you  let  me  have  a  trial 
of  it  at  this  time  in  dealing  sincerely  and  earnestly 


Pioneer  of  American  Colonization.     247 

with  the   king   that  Sir  WaUer  Raleigh's  life  may 
not  be  called  in  question. 

''If  you  do  it  so  that  the  success  answer  my 
expectation,  assure  yourself  that  I  will  take  it 
extraordinarily  kindly  at  your  hands;  and  rest 
one  that  wishes  you  well,  and  desires  you  to  con- 
tmew  still,  as  you  have  been,  a  true  servant  of 
your  master. 

"  To  the  Marquis  of  Buckingame." 
Buckingham's  influence  \vith  the  king  in  be- 
half of  Raleigh  was  forestalled  by  his  devotion  to 
to  the  project  of  King  James  to  wed  Prince 
Charles  to  the  Infanta  of  Spain,  and  Gondamar 
had  impressed  him  with  the  necessity  of  putting 
Raleigh  out  of  the  way,  if  the  favor  of  the  King 
of  Spain  was  to  be  secured.  The  probability  is 
that  he  did  nothing  to  gratify  the  queen  in  this 
matter,  and  save  her  friend. 

The  king  was  informed  that  the  Spaniards 
preferred  not  to  have  the  prisoner  delivered  over 
to  them  for  execution,  but  to  have  him  executed 
in  England.  In  this  predicament,  Lord  Bacon 
was  applied  to  for  counsel  as  to  the  legal  form  of 


248  Sir  Walter  Raleigh. 

accomplishing  this  purpose.  On  consultation  with 
his  colleagues,  tlie  lord  chancellor  informed  the  king 
that  a  person  already  "attainted  of  high  treason 
can  not  be  drawn  in  question  judicially  for  any 
crime  since  committed ;"  that  the  king  might  give 
warrant  for  Raleigh's  execution  upon  the  former 
conviction.  At  the  same  time  Bacon  inconsist- 
ently suggested  that  Raleigh  might  be  called 
before  the  council  of  state  and  the  judges,  on  the 
charge  of  "acts  of  hostility,  depredations,  and 
abuse."  In  that  case  Raleigh  could  not  plead 
that  he  had  been  pardoned.  The  king  saw  the 
contradiction  in  these  advices  of  his  sycophantic 
lord  chancellor,  and  preferred  the  more  direct 
course  of  executing  the  sentence  which  had  been 
suspended  since  1603. 

Accordingly,  Raleigh  was  summoned  before 
the  court  of  the  king's  bench.  It  was  a  surprise 
to  him,  and  he  arose  from  his  bed,  where  he  had 
lain  suffering  from  the  ague,  and,  without  much 
attention  to  his  personal  appearance,  hurried  from 
the  Tower,  followed  by  one  of  his  old  servants. 
The  servant  observed  his  deshabille,  and  suggested 


Pioneer  of  American  Colonization.     249 

to  him  that  he  had  not  combed  his  liead.  Sir 
Walter  naively  remarked,,  in  the  Devonshire  dia- 
lect he  was  accustomed  to  use  witli  common 
people:  ''Let  them  kem  it  that  are  to  have  it." 
He  then  added,  smiling,  "Dost  thou  know, 
Peter,  of  any  plaster  that  will  set  a  man's  head 
on  again,  when  it  is  off?" 

At  the  court  the  attorney-general  produced  the 
record  of  conviction,  and  demanded  in  the  king's 
name  that  the  sentence  should  be  executed  with- 
out delay.  The  chief-justice  then  asked  tlie  pris- 
oner if  he  had  any  thing  to  say.  Raleigh,  apol- 
gizing  for  the  weakness  of  his  voice  on  account 
of  the  ague,  made  reply: 

''All  I  can  say,  my  lord,  is  this:  The  judg- 
ment I  received  to  die  so  long  since  can  not  now, 
I  hope,  be  strained ;  for  since  it  was  his  majesty's 
pleasure  to  grant  me  a  commission  to  proceed  on 
a  voyage  beyond  the  seas,  wherein  I  had  martial 
power  on  the  life  and  death  of  others,  so,  under 
favor,  I  presume  I  stand  discharged  of  that  judg- 
ment. By  that  commission  I  gained  new  life  and 
vigor;    for  he   that  hath  power   over   the  life  of 


250  Sir  Walter  Raleigh. 

others  must  surely  be  master  of  his  own.  Under 
my  commission  I  undertook  a  voyage,  to  do 
honor  to  my  sovereign,  and  to  enrich  his  king- 
dom with  gold,  of  the  ore  whereof  this  hand 
hath  found  and  taken  in  Guiana.  But  the  enter- 
prise, notwithstanding  my  endeavors,  hath  no 
other  issue  than  which  was  fatal  to  me — the  loss 
of  my  son,  and  the  wasting  of  my  whole  estate." 

Tlie  chief-justice,  Montague,  here  interposed, 
saying : 

''Treason  is  a  crime  wliich  must  be  pardoned 
by  express  words,  not  by  implication." 

"If  that  be  your  lordship's  opinion,"  said  Ra- 
leigh, "I  can  only  put  myself  upon  the  mercy 
of  the  king.  His  majesty,  as  well  as  all  others 
who  are  here  present,  have  been  of  opinion  that 
in  my  former  trial  I  received  but  hard  measure. 
Had  the  king  not  been  exasperated  anew  against 
me,  certain  I  am  that  I  might  have  lived  a  thou- 
sand years  before  he  would  have  taken  advantage 
of  this  conviction." 

The  chief-justice  remarked  that  he  had  a  fair 
trial,  and  he  should  confess  that  his  former  judg- 


Pioneer  of  American  Colonization.     251 

ment  should  justly  be  executed.  For  fifteen  years 
he  had  been  dead  in  law,  and  might  at  any  mo- 
ment have  been  cut  off.  "I  know,'-  continued 
the  chief -justice,  ^'you  have  been  valiant  and 
wise,  and  I  doubt  not  but  you  retain  botli  these 
virtues,  for  now  you  shall  have  occasion  to  use 
them.  Your  faith  hath  heretofore  been  ques- 
tioned; but  I  am  resolved  that  you  are  a  good 
Christian,  for  your  book,  which  is  an  admirable 
work,  doth  testify  as  much."  Having  added  a 
few  words  more,  exi^ressing  his  sorrow  for  his 
fate,  the  chief-justice  declared  that  "the  execution 
was  granted." 

"  My  lords,"  said  Raleigh,  "I  desire  this  much 
favor,  that  I  may  not  be  cut  off  suddenly,  but 
may  have  some  time  granted  me  before  my  exe- 
cution to  settle  my  affairs  and  my  mind  more 
than  they  yet  are.  I  have  something  to  do  in 
discharge  of  my  conscience,  and  I  have  some- 
what to  satisfy  His  Majesty  in.  I  would  beseech 
the  favor  of  pen,  ink,  and  paper.  ...  I  would 
beseech  your  lordships  that,  when  I  come  to  die, 
I  may  have  leave  to  speak  freely  at  my  farewell. 


252  Sir  Walter  Raleigh. 

And  here  I  take  God,  before  whom  I  shall  shortly 
appear,  to  be  my  judge,  that  I  was  never  disloyal 
to  His  Majesty,  which  I  shall  testify  when  I  shall 
not  fear  the  face  of  any  king  on  earth.  And  I 
beseech  you  all  to  pray  for  me." 

The  king  was  purposely  absent  from  London, 
but  the  royal  warrant  for  execution  was  now  pro- 
duced, it  having  been  prepared  by  anticipation. 
Die  sentence  of  hanging  was  changed  to  behead- 
ing; the  time,  the  following  morning. 

Raleigh  was  now  taken  to  the  gate-house  of 
Westminster,  one  story  of  which  was  now  used 
for  a  prison.     Here  he  was  visited  by  friends. 

As  Raleigh  passed  from  the  Hall  to  the  gate- 
house, he  met  an  old  friend.  Sir  Hugh  Barton, 
and  asked  him : 

''You  will  come  to-morrow  morning?" 

"Certainly,"  said  Sir  Hugh. 

"But  I  do  not  know  what  you  may  do  for  a 
place.  For  my  own  part,  I  am  sure  of  one. 
You  must  make  what  shift  you  can." 

So  cheerful  was  the'  condemned,  but  innocent, 
man,    that   his   friends   wondered    at   it,   and   one 


Pioneer  of  American  Colonization.     253 

said  to  him,  ''Do  not  carry  it  with  too  much 
bravery;  your  enemies  will  take  exceptions,  if 
you  do."  "It  is  my  last  mirth  in  this  world,"  he 
repHed.  "Do  not  grudge  it  to  me.  When  I 
come  to  the  sad  parting,  you  will  see  me  grave 
enough."  To  another  friend  he  said,  "The  world 
is  but  a  large  prison,  out  of  which  some  are  daily 
selected  for  execution." 

The  Dean  of  Westminster,  Dr.  Robert  Towson, 
afterward  Bisliop  of  Salisbury,  who  was  appointed 
to  attend  him,  was  impressed  by  his  wonderful 
buoyancy  of  spirits  and  fearlessness  of  death,  and 
cautioned  him  in  respect  to  its  source.  "He  was 
the  most  fearless  of  death  ever  known,"  wrote 
the  dean,  afterward,  "and  the  m.ost  resolute  and 
confident,  yet  with  reverence  and  conscience." 

The  saddest  scene  of  all  was  the  final  inter 
view,  at  midnight,  of  Raleigh  with  his  beloved 
wife.  It  is  best  described  by  his  eloquent  biog- 
rapher, Edward  Edw^ards : 

"She  had  buoyed  herself  with  hope  till  almost 
the  moment  of  the  final  meeting  in  the  gate-house. 
But  before  she  went,  some  friends  broke  to  her 


254  Sir  Walter  Raleigh. 

the  news,  and  told  her  that  the  lords  of  council, 
though  they  had  refused  intercession  with  the 
king  for  her  husband's  life,  would  empower  hei 
to  bury  him.  It  was  then  late  on  Thursday.  It 
had  yet  to  be  told  her  that  early  on  Friday  morn- 
ing she  would  be  a  widow.  But  the  clownish 
brutality  native  to  James  became  an  unmeant 
mercy.  During  that  brief  space  of  time  Ra- 
leigh's thoughts  were  much  bent  upon  the  final 
vindication  of  his  fame  before  the  world.  Into 
that  channel  he  forced  himself  to  turn  his  wife's 
thoughts  also.  And  her  love  was  stronger  than 
her  grief.  He  told  her  that  he  could  not  trust 
himself  to  talk  about  their  dear  litde  Carew. 
Thoughts  concerning  him  must  be  left  unspoken. 
Speech  would  but  make  the  parting  too  hard  for 
both  of  them.  As  they  were  conversing  together 
about  Lady  Raleigh's  task  in  the  event  of  her 
husband's  misgivings  being  realized  by  the  forcible 
prevention  of  his  intended  address  from  the  scaf- 
fold, the  abbey  clock  told  them  it  was  already 
midnight.  She  knew  that  it  would  be  an  act  of 
wifely  love  now  to  leave  him  alone,  and  she  com 


Pioneer  of  American  Colonization.     255 

pelled  herself  to  go.  Her  last  words  were  to 
tell  him  of  the  message  about  the  disposal  of  his 
body.  Then  the  passionate  anguish  would  no 
longer  let  itself  be  restrained.  But  the  loving 
purpose  of  departure  was  firmly  kept.  *  It  is 
well,  dear  Bess/  said  Sir  Walter  with  a  parting 
smile,  '  that  thou  mayst  dispose  of  that  dead 
which  thou  hadst  not  always  the  disposing  of 
when  alive.'" 

Left  alone,  Sir  Walter  spent  his  time  in  sup- 
plementing his  last  will  and  testament,  and  ap- 
pending to  it  the  substance  of  his  replies  to  the 
accusations  of  Feme,  Stukeley,  and  Manourie. 

Early  in  the  morning  he  received  the  com- 
munion from  Dr.  Towson,  who  testified  that  he 
seemed  "very  cheerful  and  merry,"  and  full  of 
hope  tliat  he  should  satisfy  every  one  of  his  inno- 
cence of  the  late  charges  by  his  final  declaration 
on  the  scaffold.  He  took  his  breakfast  as  usual, 
and  smoked  his  pipe,  saying  to  all  his  attendants 
that  death  seemed  to  him  nothing  more  than 
going  on  a  journey.  He  dressed  himself  in  his 
usual  precise  manner,  and  with  special  reference 


256  Sir  Walter  Raleigh. 

to  the  mode  of  his  execution.  A  cup  of  wine 
was  brought  to  him  just  before  he  left  the  gate- 
house. He  was  asked  if  it  were  to  his  liking.  "  I 
will  answer  you,"  said  he,  "as  did  the  fellow  who 
drank  of  St.  Giles's  bowl  as  he  went  to  Tyburn, 
*It  is  a  good  drink,  if  a  man  might  but  tarry 
by  it.'  " 

Attended  by  the  dean  of  Westminster,  he  fol- 
lowed two  sheriffs  to  the  scaffold  in  tlie  old  palace 
yard  near  the  Parliament  House.  He  bowed  to 
the  crowd  of  persons  present,  among  whom  he 
saw  several  of  his  distinguished  friends.  Noticing 
a  venerable,  bald-headed  old  man  standing  near, 
he  took  from  under  his  hat  a  night-cap  of  cut 
lace,  and  threw  it  to  him,  saying,  "You  need 
this,  my  friend,  more  than  I  do." 

He  ascended  the  scaffold  with  a  cheerful 
countenance,  but  with  the  air  of  one  whose 
body  was  enfeebled  by  sickness,  and  out  of 
breath  by  pushing  through  the  crowd.  In  that 
crowd  he  was  pleased  to  see  numbers  of  the 
most  distinguished  commoners  and  noblemen  of 
the  realm  standing  or  sitting  on  horseback. 


Pioneer  of  American  Colonization.     257 

Sentence  being  proclaimed,  Sir  Walter  began 
his  farewell  speech,  for  which  he  had  been  so 
anxious  to  have  the  opportunity  of  delivering. 
He  found  it  difficult  to  raise  his  voice  to  a  pitch 
sufficient  to  be  heard  by  the  whole  assembly,  and 
particularly  by  his  friends,  the  Earls  of  Arundel, 
Oxford,  and  Northampton,  who  stood  in  the  bal- 
cony. "I  have  had  fits  of  ague  for  these  two 
days,"  he  said;  "if,  therefore,  you  perceive  any 
weakness  in  me,  ascribe  it  to  my  sickness  rather 
than  to  myself.  I  am  infinitely  bound  to  God 
that  he  hath  vouchsafed  me  to  die  in  the  sight  of 
so  noble  an  assembly,  and  not  in  darkness  in 
that  Tower,  where  I  have  suffered  so  much  ad- 
versity and  a  long  sickness.  I  thank  God  that 
my  fever  hath  not  taken  me  at  this  time,  as  I 
prayed  to  God  it  might  not." 

He  then  devoted  his  attention  to  the  noblemen 
in  the  balcony,  and  said  that  he  was  afraid  he 
could  not  make  himself  heard  by  them.  Where- 
upon they  said,  ''We  will  come  down  to  you." 
He  sat  down  while  they  were  making  their  way 
to  him.  They  came  directly  to  where  he  sat,  and 
17 


258  Sir  Walter  Raleigh. 

shook    hands  with   him   heartily  and   long.      He 
then  arose,  and  said : 

"There  are  two  main  points  which,  as  I  con- 
ceive, have  hastened  my  coming  thither,  of  which 
his  majesty  hath  been  informed  against  me.  The 
first,  that  I  had  some  practice  with  France.  And 
the  reason  which  his  majesty  had  so  to  believe 
was,  first,  for  that  when  I  came  to  Plymouth,  I 
had  a  desire  in  a  small  bark  to  have  passed  to 
Rochelle,  and  after^  because  the  French  agent 
came  to  my  house  here  in  London.  But  as  ever 
I  hope  to  see  God  or  to  have  any  benefit  or  com- 
fort by  the  passion  of  my  Savior,  I  never  had  any 
practice  with  the  French  king  or  his  embassador 
or  agent;  neither  had  I  any  intelligence  from 
thence;  neither  did  I  ever  see  the  French  king's 
hand  or  seal  as  some  report  [asserting  that],  I 
had  a  commission  from  him  at  sea;  neither,  as  I 
have  a  soul  to  save,  did  I  know  of  the  French 
agent's  coming  to  my  house  till  I  saw  him  in  my 
gallery.  It  is  not  now  a  time  either  to  fear  or 
fla  ""er  kings.  I  am  now  the  subject  of  death,  and 
the  great  God  of  heaven  is  my  sovereign,  before 


Pioneer  of  American  Colonization.     259 

whose  tribunal-seat  I  am  shortly  to  appear.  And, 
therefore,  have  a  charitable  conceit  of  me.  To 
swear  [falsely]  is  an  offense;  to  swear  falsely  at 
any  time  is  a  great  sin.  So  to  call  God  to  witness 
an  untruth  is  a  sin  above  measure  sinful.  But  to 
do  it  at  the  hour  of  one's  death,  in  the  presence 
of  Almighty  God,  before  whom  one  is  forthwith 
to  appear,  were  the  greatest  madness  and  sin 
that  could  be  possible. 

''The  other  matter  alleged   against   me,"  con- 
tinued  Raleigh,   ''is    that  I  should   have    spoken 
some  disloyal,  dishonest,  and  dishonorable  words 
of  the  king.     Mine  accuser  is  a  runagate  French- 
man, who,  having  run  over  the  face  of  the  earth, 
hath  no  abiding-place.     This  fellow,  because    he 
had  a  merry  wit,  and  some  small  skill  in  chemical 
medicine,  I   entertained  rather  for  his  taste  than 
his  judgment.     He  perjured  himself  at  Salisbury, 
revealing    that,    the    next    day,    the    contrary   of 
which  he  vowed  to  me  the  day  before.     But  by 
the  same  protestation  I  have  already  made,  and  as 
I  hope  for  my  inheritance  in  heaven,  I  did  never 
speak    any    disloyal,    dishonorable,    or    dishonest 


2  6o  Sir  Walter  Raleigh. 

words  of  the  king.  If  I  did,  tlie  Lord  blot  me 
out  of  the  book  of  life.  Nay,  I  will  protest  fur- 
ther that  I  never  thought  such  evil  of  hira  in  my 
heart;  and  therefore  it  seemeth  somewhat  strange 
that  such  a  base  fellow  should  receive  credit. 
Touching  Sir  Lewis  Stukeley,  he  is  my  country- 
man and  kinsman,  and  I  have  this  morning  taken 
the  sacrament  with  Master  Dean,  and  I  have  for- 
given both  Stukeley  and  the  Frenchman.  Yet  thus 
much,  I  think,  I  am  bound  in  charity  to  speak 
of  it,  that  others  may  take  warning  how  they 
trust  such  men.  Sir  Lewis  Stukeley  hath  testified 
before  tlie  lords  that  I  told  him  my  Lord  Carew 
sent  me  word  to  get  me  gone,  when  I  first  landed. 
I  protest,  upon  my  salvation,  neither  did  my  Lord 
Carew  send  me  any  such  word,  neither  did  I  tell 
Stukeley  any  such  matter.  He  accused  me,  again, 
that  I  should  tell  him  that  my  Lord  Carew  and 
my  Lord  Doncaster  would  meet  me  in  France, 
which  was  never  my  speech  nor  my  thought. 
Thirdly,  he  accused  me  that  I  showed  him,  in  a 
letter,  that  I  would  give  him  ten  thousand  pounds 
for  my  escape.     I   never  made  him  offer  of  ten 


Pioneer  of  American  Colonization.     261 

thousand  pounds,  or  one  thousand  pounds.  If  I 
liad  had  half  so  much,  I  could  have  done  better 
with  it.  I  did  show  him  in  a  letter  that  if  he 
would  go  with  me  his  debts  should  be  paid  when 
he  was  gone.  For,  as  to  my  seeking  escape,  I 
can  not  deny  it.  I  had  advertisement  that  it 
would  go  hard  with  me.  I  desired  to  save  my 
life.  And  as  for  that  I  did  feign  myself  sick  at 
Salisbury,  and  by  art  made  my  body  fall  of  blis- 
ters, to  put  off  the  time  of  coming  before  the 
council,  I  hope  it  was  no  sin.  The  prophet 
David,  a  man  after  God's  own  heart,  did  feign 
himself  mad,  and  let  the  spittle  fall  down  on  his 
beard.  I  find  not  that  recorded  as  a  fault  in 
David,  and  I  hope  God  will  never  lay  it  to  my 
charge.  I  hoped  by  delay  to  gain  time  for  ob- 
taining my  pardon. 

**  But  Sir  Lewis  Stukeley  did  me  a  further 
injury,  which  I  am  very  sensible  of,  howsoever  it 
seem  not  to  concern  myself.  In  my  going  up  to 
London,  we  lodged  at  Sir  Edward  Parham's 
house.  He  is  an  ancient  friend  and  follower  of 
mine,   whose   lady   is   my   cousin-german.     There 


262  Sir  Walter  Raleigh. 

Stukeley  made  it  to  be  suggested  unto  me,  and 
himself  told  me,  he  thought  I  had  some  poison 
given  me.  I  know  it  grieves  the  gendeman  there 
should  be  such  a  conceit  held.  And  as  for  the 
cook  who  was  suspected,  having  been  once  my 
servant,  I  know  he  would  go  a  thousand  miles  to 
do  me  good. 

"For  my  going  to  Guiana,  many  thought  I 
never  intended  it,  but  intended  to  gain  my  lib- 
erty,— which  I  would  I  had  been  so  wise  as  to 
have  kept.  But,  as  I  shall  answer  it  before  the 
same  God  before  whom  I  am  shortly  to  appear,  I 
endeavored,  and  I  hoped,  to  have  enriched  the 
"king,  myself,  and  my  partners.  But  I  was  un- 
done by  Keymis,  a  willful  fellow,  who,  seeing  my 
son  slain,  and  myself  unpardoned,  would  not 
open  the  mine,  and  killed  himself. 

*'It  was  also  told  the  king  that  I  was  brought 
by  force  to  England,  and  that  I  did  not  intend  to 
come  back  again.  I  protest  that  when  the  voyage 
succeeded  not,  and  that  I  resolved  to  come  home, 
my  company  mutinied  against  me.  They  fortified 
the  gun-room  against  me,  and  kept  me  within  my 


Pioneer  op  American  Colonization.     263 

own  cabin;  and  would  not  be  satisfied  except  I 
would  take  a  corporal  oath  not  to  bring  them 
into  England  until  I  had  gotten  the  pardons  of 
four  of  them, — there  being  four  men  unpardoned. 
So  I  took  that  oath.  And  we  came  into  Ireland, 
where  they  would  have  landed  in  the  north  parts. 
But  I  would  not,  because  there  the  inhabitants 
were  all  Redshanks.  So  we  came  to  the  South, 
hoping  from  thence  to  write  to  his  majesty  for 
their  pardons.  In  the  mean  time  I  offered  to 
send  them  to  places  in  Devon  or  Cornwall,  to  lie 
safe  till  they  had  been  pardoned. 

''  I  am  glad  that  my  Lord  of  Arundel  is  here; 
for,  when  I  came  down  to  my  ship,  his  lordship 
and  divers  others  were  with  me.  At  the  parting 
salutation,  his  lordship  took  me  aside,  and  desired 
me  freely  and  faithfully  to  resolve  to  him  one  re- 
quest, which  was,  whether  I  made  a  good  voyage 
or  bad,  yet  I  should  return  again  into  England. 
I  made  you,"  turning  to  Lord  Arundel,  who  was 
on  the  scaffold,  "a  promise,  and  gave  you  my 
faith,  that  I  would." 

Lord  Arundel  responded:  ''And  so  you  did. 


264  Sir  Walter  Raleigh. 

It  is  true  that  they  were  were  the  last  words  I 
spake  unto  you." 

After  a  few  desultory  remarks  on  various  un- 
important matters,  Sir  Walter  concluded : 

"I  will  yet  borrow  a  little  time  of  Master 
Sheriffs,  to  speak  of  one  thing  more.  It  doth 
make  my  heart  bleed  to  hear  such  an  imputation 
laid  upon  me.  It  was  said  that  I  was  a  perse- 
cutor of  my  Lord  of  Essex,  and  that  I  stood  in  a 
window  over  against  him  when  he  suffered,  and 
puffed  out  tobacco  in  disdain  of  him.  I  take  my 
God  to  witness  that  my  eyes  shed  tears  for  him 
when  he  died.  And,  as  I  hope  to  look  in  the 
face  of  God  hereafter,  my  Lord  of  Essex  did  not 
see  my  face  when  he  suffered.  I  was  far  off  in 
the  Armory  when  I  saw  him,  but  he  saw  not  me. 
And  now  my  soul  hath  been  many  times  grieved 
that  I  was  not  near  with  him  when  he  died,  be- 
cause I  have  understood  that  he  asked  for  me  at 
his  death,  to  be  reconciled  to  me.  I  confess  I 
was  of  a  contrary  faction.  But  I  knew  that  my 
Lord  of  Essex  was  a  noble  gentleman,  and  that 
it  would  be  worse  with  me  when  he  was  gone; 


Pioneer  of  American  Colonization.     265 

for  tliose  that  did  set  me  up  against  him  did  after- 
ward set  themselves  against  me." 

He  closed  with  an  earnest  prayer  for  the 
divine  mercy  and  blessing. 

He  then  asked  the  people  present  to  pray 
for  him : 

"And  now  I  entreat  you  all  to  join  with  me 
in  prayer  to  the  Great  God  of  Heaven,  whom  I 
have  grievously  offended.  I  have  many,  many 
sins  for  which  to  beseech  God's  pardon.  Of  a 
long  time  my  course  was  a  course  of  vanity.  I 
have  been  a  seafaring  man,  a  soldier,  and  a 
courtier,  and  the  temptations  of  the  least  of 
these  overthrow  a  good  mind  and  a  good  man. 
I  die  in  the  faith  as  professed  by  the  Church  of 
England.  I  hope  to  be  saved  and  have  my  sins 
washed  away  by  the  precious  blood  and  merits 
of  our  Savior,  Christ.'' 

Proclamation  was  now  made  for  all  persons  to 
leave  the  scaffold.  Sir  Walter  then  threw  off  his 
cloak.  His  hat  and  some  mogey  he  gave  to  his 
attendants.  He  then  bade  farewell  to  his  friends 
around  him.     He  asked  Lord  Arundel  to  entreat 


266  Sir  Walt^pr  Raleigh. 

the  king  to  allow  no  calumnious  publications 
against  his  character  when  he  was  gone. 

"I  have  a  long  journey  to  go,"  he  said,  ''and 
must  therefore  speedily  take  my  leave."  Taking 
off  his  gown  and  doublet,  he  presented  himself  as 
ready  to  the  executioner. 

He  then  asked  to  see  the  ax.  The  execu- 
tioner, bewildered,  hesitated,  until  he  asked  the 
second  time.  He  felt  the  blade  to  test  its  sharp- 
ness, and  kissed  it,  saying,  "This  gives  me  no 
fear.  It  is  a  sharp  and  fair  medicine  to  cure  me 
of  all  my  diseases."  He  then  said,  ''When  I 
stretch  forth  my  hands,  dispatch  me." 

He  then  saluted  the  assembly  around  him,  and 
said,  "Give  me  your  prayers."  He  then  kneeled 
for  the  last  prayer. 

The  executioner  asked  which  way  he  would 
have  his  head  directed.  He  answered,  "If  the 
heart  be  right,  it  were  no  matter  which  way  the 
head  was  laid."  The  executioner  turned  his  face 
to  the  east  as  he  laid  his  head  upon  the  bloclc, 
and  threw  over  his  body  his  cloak.  In  a  moment 
the   hand  was  raised,   as  a  signal  for  the  stroke. 


Pioneer  of  American  Colonization.     267 

But  the  man  trembled  and  hesitated.  "What 
dost  thou  fear?"  cried  Sir  Walter.  ''Strike,  man, 
strike."  The  ax  fell  twice,  and  the  head  dropped 
upon  the  stage,  and  all  was  over. 

The  head  was  lifted,  shown  to  the  crowd,  and 
then  deposited  in  a  red  leather  bag.  That  and 
the  body,  enveloped  in  Sir  Walter's  cloak,  were 
conveyed  in  a  coach  to  the  house  of  Lady  Ra- 
leigh. By  her  the  head  was  embalmed,  and  kept 
in  a  case  while  she  lived,  and  then  left  to  her 
son  Carew,  who  at  his  death  requested  that  it 
should  be  buried  in  the  same  grave  with  himself. 

The  body  was  interred  in  the  chancel  of  St. 
Margaret's  Church  in  Westminster.  There  now 
the  traveler  will  read  on  a  tablet  of  brass,  re- 
placing in  1845  one  of  wood,  this  inscription 
probably  copied  from  the  original : 

"Within    the   chancel   of  this  church   was   interred 
the  body  of  the  great  Sir  Walter  Raleigh, 
on  the  day  he  was  beheaded  in  Old  Palace 
Yard,  Westminster,  October  29,  161 8. 
Reader,  should   you   reflect  on  his  errors,  remem- 
ber  his   many  virtues,  and   that   he   was  a 
mortal." 


268  Sir  Walter  Raleigh. 

In  his  Bible  at  the  gate-house  these  truthful 
and  touching  lines  were  found : 

"Even  such  is  time  that  takes  on  trust 
Our  youth,  our  joys,  our  all  we  have, 
And  pays  us  but  with  age  and  dust; 
Who  in  the  dark  and  silent  grave, 
When  we  have  wandered  all  our  ways, 
Shuts  up  the  story  of  our  days  ! 
But  from  this  earth,  this  grave,  this  dust, 
The  Lord  shall  raise  me  up,  I  trust." 

The  popular  sympathy  with  Raleigh  w^s  mani- 
fested by  the  promiscuous  crowd  that  came  to  the 
execution.  In  that  assembly  were  Sir  John  Eliot 
and  John  Hampden,  whose  resistance  to  the  ar- 
bitrary acts  of  Charles  I  has  made  them  immor- 
tal. From  that  hour  the  writings  of  Raleigh  were 
text-books  to  the  English  patriots,  who  sought  to 
limit  the  prerogatives  of  the  crown,  and  to  en 
large  the  liberties  of  the  subject. 

The  sad  story  of  Raleigh's  fate  was  the  topic 
of  conversation  in  every  circle  in  England,  and 
in  every  court  in  Europe.  At  St.  Paul's  Church, 
where  noblemen,  merchants,  and  professional  men 
were  wont  to  congregate  twice  a  day  for  conver- 


Pioneer  of  American  Colonization.     269 

sation  and  business  communication,  a  leading 
merchant  of  London,  Mr.  Edward  Weimark, 
speaking  of  the  Secretary  of  State,  Sir  Robert 
Naunton,  said  he  wished  that  Sir  Walter  Raleigh's 
head  were  on  his  shoulders.  This  remark  was 
reported  to  the  privy  council,  and  Weimark  was 
called  to  account  for  it.  He  admitted  the  re- 
mark, but  said  it  only  meant  that  two  heads 
were  better  than  one.  Not  long  after  subscrip- 
tions were  taken  at  the  council  chamber  for  St. 
Paul's  Cathedral,  and  Weimark  subscribed  one 
hundred  pounds;  but  on  the  Secretary's  remark- 
ing significandy  that  two  hundred  were  better 
than  one,  he  thought  it  prudent  for  him  to  double 
his  subscription. 

The  enemies  of  Raleigh  were  obnoxious  to  the 
popular  dislike.  Manourie  was  treated  with  con- 
tempt, and  Sir  Lewis  Stukeley  was  repelled  from 
respectable  society.  One  day  his  office  as  vice- 
admiral  of  Devon  brought  him  to  the  house  of 
Lord  Charles  Howard.  He  was  met  by  the  earl 
with  an  outburst  of  indignation.  "  Barest  thou 
to  come  into,  my  presence,  thou  base  fellow,  who 


270  Sir  Walter  Raleigh. 

art  reputed  the  common  scorn  and  contempt  of  all 
men?  Were  it  not  in  my  own  house,  I  would 
cudgel  thee  with  my  staff  for  presuming  to  speak 
to  me."  Stukeley  complained  to  the  king  of  this 
treatment.  "What  should  I  do  with  him?"  said 
James.  "Hang  him?  On  my  sawle,  mon,  if  I 
hang  all  that  spoke  ill  of  thee,  all  the  trees  in 
the  island  were  too  few."  Not  a  year  had 
elapsed  before  Stukeley  was  detected  in  debas- 
ing the  king's  coin  in  the  Whitehall  Palace,  and 
was  condemned  to  be  hung.  The  sentence  was 
commuted  for  confiscation  of  most  his  possessions. 
He  then  took  refuge  at  his  countr3^-seat  in  Affton; 
but  being  every-where  scorned  by  poor  and  rich, 
his  life  was  a  burden,  and  he  fled  to  the  litde 
island  of  Lundy,  sixteen  miles  off  the  coast  of 
Devon,  and  there,  in  less  than  two  years,  in 
the  old  ruined  "Moresco  Castle,"  he  died,  a 
wretched,  heart-broken  man. 

The  king  found  it  necessary  by  the  prosti- 
tuted but  plausible  pen  of  Bacon  to  pubHsh  an 
apology  for  his  treatment  of  Raleigh,  entitled, 
"A   Declaration   of  the   Demeanor  and  Carriage 


Pioneer  of  American  Colonization.     271 

of  Sir  Walter  Raleigh,"  in  which  are  some  pal- 
pable contradictions  and  perversions  of  the  facts 
in  the  case.  The  curse  of  God  rested  upon  that 
mean  and  cowardly  king,  and  upon  his  family, 
culminating  in  the  beheading  of  Charles  I,  and 
the  final  extinction  of  the  royal  house  of  the 
Stuarts. 

Lady  Raleigh  survived  her  noble  husband 
twenty-nine  years.  Her  son  Carew,  who  was 
thirteen  years  of  age  at  his  father's  death,  vindi- 
cated the  characier  of  his  father  in  a  treatise,  en- 
titled, '^ Brief  Relations  of  Sir  Walter  Raleigh's 
Troubles.'^  He  was  highly  educated,  and  pos- 
sessed of  more  than  ordinary  literary  genius.  He 
failed  to  recover  his  father's  forfeited  estate  of 
Sherbourne,  but  became  possessed  of  an  ample 
fortune  by  marriage.  At  his  death  he  requested 
to  be  buried  in  his  father's  grave. 


THE  END. 


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